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UC-NRLF 


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THE  MINERAL  WEALTH 

"•- 

'-y^^^^^^^^^^^^^^f. 

OF  CAN 


A.   B.   WILLMOTT 


REESE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 
eHecemd 

zdccessioH  No.    '/$  73  (n    .   Class  No. 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH 


OF  CANADA. 


A   GUIDE 

FOR  STUDENTS  OF   ECONOMIC  GEOLOGY. 


BY 


ARTHUR  B.  WILLMOTT,  M.A.,  B.Sc. 

Professor  of  Natural  Science,  McMaster  University;  formerly  Assistant 
in  Mineralogy,  Harvard  University. 


TORONTO : 
WILLIAM     BRIGGS, 

WESLEY  BUILDINGS. 

C.  W.  COATES,  MONTREAL.  S.  F.  HUESTIS,  HALIFAX. 

1897. 


7$  73  & 

Entered,  according  to  Act  of  the  Parliament  of  Canada,  in  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-seven,  by  WILLIAM  BRIQGS,  at 
the  Department  of  Agriculture. 


PREFACE. 


FOR  several  years  the  author  of  this  book  has  been  giving 
a  short  course  of  lectures  to  his  class  in  geology  on  the 
economic  minerals  of  Canada.  While  it  is  not  customary 
to  treat  this  subject  so  fully  in  an  elementary  class,  he 
has  felt  that  in  a  young  undeveloped  country  like  our 
own,  it  was  highly  desirable  that  all  university  students 
should  know  something  of  our  latent  mineral  wealth.  So, 
at  the  expense  of  Palaeontology,  much  of  which  is  more 
suitable  for  an  advanced  course,  time  was  found  for 
economic  geology  in  the  elementary  one. 

To  save  the  labor  of  dictation,  and  to  make  them  useful 
to  a  larger  number,  these  lecture  notes  are  now  published. 
They  have  been  somewhat  extended,  to  make  the  subject 
clearer  to  the  general  reader,  who  has  not  had  any  pre- 
liminary training  in  geology.  So  far  as  known,  it  is  the 
only  work  giving  a  systematic  account  of  the  mineral 
resources  of  the  Dominion.  Originality,  except  in  method 
of  treatment,  is  not  claimed.  The  work  is  a  compilation 
founded  largely  on  the  excellent  reports  of  the  Geological 
Survey  of  Canada.  These  bulky  volumes  and  the  detailed 
statements  in  the  reports  of  the  Provincial  departments 


11  PREFACE. 

of  mines,  while  well  and  favorably  known  to  the  specialist, 
are  almost  unknown  to  the  general  reader,  and  unsuited 
for  the  elementary  student.  It  is  hoped  that  this  book 
will  not  only  prove  serviceable  itself,  but  that  by  its 
numerous  references  it  will  stimulate  students  to  seek 
fuller  information  in  the  reports  mentioned. 

It  has  not  been  thought  necessary  in  a  book  of  this 
kind  to  burden  it  with  references  to  the  author  whose 
work  has  been  used.  For  the  most  part  these  works 
have  been  cited  in  the  literature  at  the  end  of  each 
chapter,  but  only  those  books  appear  which  are  likely 
to  prove  accessible  to  the  student.  Special  works  not 
usually  found  in  small  libraries  have  been  omitted.  Some 
changes  have  been  made  in  the  spelling  of  chemical  terms, 
as  recommended  by  the  Chemical  Section  of  the  American 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  and  as 
adopted  by  the  "  Standard  "  Dictionary. 

The  kind  assistance  of  several  friends  is  gratefully  ac- 
knowledged. To  Dr.  Coleman  of  the  School  of  Practical 
Science,  and  to  Mr.  A.  Blue,  Director  of  the  Bureau  of 
Mines,  the  author  is  particularly  indebted.  The  latter  has 
read  the  work  in  proof,  and  special  thanks  are  due  to  him 
for  many  valuable  emendations. 

TORONTO,  August  10th,  1897. 


ANALYSIS   OF   CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 7 

Comparison  of  the  mineral  resources  of  Canada  with 
those  of  other  countries — Description  of  rock-forming 
minerals— Origin  of  rocks— Kinds  of  rocks— Relative 
ages  of  rocks  —  Chart  of  geological  time — General 
literature. 


SECTION  I.— MINERALS   YIELDING   METALS. 

CHAPTER  II. 
ORE  DEPOSITS .     -    »        .        .      '21 

Definition  of  ore — Usual  combinations  of  the  metals — 
Classification  of  ore  deposits — Fissure  veins — The  filling 
of  veins— Surface  appearance  of  ores— Distribution — 
Erroneous  ideas. 

CHAPTER  III. 

IRON,  MANGANESE  AND  CHROMIUM  ..       .        .        .      40 

Ores  of  iron — Impurities — Canadian  localities — Pro- 
duction— Literature — Manganese — Chromium. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

V 

NICKEL  AND  COBALT        .        .        .        ...       >>"      .      50 

Ores  —  Distribution  —  Geological   occurrence  —  Uses — 
Production — Literature. 


IV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

PAGE 

COPPER  AND  SULFUR 55 

Ores  of  copper — Geological  occurrence — Canadian  local- 
ities— History  of  mining  operations  —  Production  in 
Canada  and  other  countries  — Occurrence  of  sulfur — 
Uses — Localities  where  mined. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
GOLD  AND  PLATINUM       ...         .        .         .         .         .66 

Comparison  of  Canada  with  other  countries— Origin — 
Geological  occurrence — Methods  of  milling— Canadian 
mines — Production . 

CHAPTER  VII. 

SILVER,  LEAD  AND  ZINC 81 

The  ores  of  silver — Silver  mines  of  Ontario  and  British 
Columbia — Production — Lead  ores  —Canadian  mines — 
Zinc  ores — Literature. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

ARSENIC,  ANTIMONY,  TIN,  ALUMINUM  AND  MERCURY  .        .      92 
Ores  of  arsenic — Production  in  Ontario — Ores  of  anti- 
mony— Mines  of  New  Brunswick — Ores  of  tin — Ores  of 
aluminum— Occurrence  of  mercury  in  Canada. 

SECTION  II.  —  MINERALS    YIELDING    NON- 
METALLIC   PRODUCTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
SALT,  GYPSUM  AND  BARITE    .        .        .        .        .        .        .98 

Occurrence  of  salt— Origin— Localities  in  Canada — 
Manufacture  —  Production — Localities  and  production 
of  gypsum  and  barite. 


CONTENTS.  V 

CHAPTER  X. 

PAGE 

APATITE  AND  MICA          .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .112 

Geological  occurrence  and  production  of  apatite — Use 
— Occurrence  of  mica — Use  and  production. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

ASBESTOS,  ACTINOLITE  AND  TALC    .        .        .        .  .119 

Composition  of  the  minerals — Occurrence  in  Quebec — 
Method  of  Mining— Uses — Production — Literature. 

CHAPTER  XII. 
PEAT,  COAL,  GRAPHITE 124 

Origin  of  peat  —  Uses  —  Localities  —  Kinds  of  coal  — 
Analyses  of  a  number  of  Canadian  coals — Impurities  in 
coal  —  Geological  relations  of  coal  —  Origin  of  coal  — 
Tables  showing  gradual  passage  from  wood — Descrip- 
tion of  the  different  coal-fields  —Production — Literature 
— Description  of  graphite — Occurrence  -  Use. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  HYDROCARBONS 148 

Composition  of  petroleum  —  Geological  occurrence — 
Canadian  oil-fields — Refining  and  use — Production — 
Composition  of  natural  gas — Occurrence  in  Canada 
— Use  and  production  —  Asphalt  —  Anthraxolite  — 
Albertite. 


SECTION  III.— ROCKS  AND  THEIR  PRODUCTS. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
GRANITE  AND  SANDSTONE       .        .        .        .        .        .        .161 

Uses  of  stone — Qualities  of  building  stones — Production 
of  granite — Origin  of  sandstone — Occurrence  and  use  as 
building  stone — Other  uses  of  sand  and  sandstone. 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

PAGE 

CLAY  AND  SLATE     . 171 

Origin  and  composition  of  clay — Uses — Production — 
Origin  of  slate — Occurrence. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
LIMESTONE       .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  .     179 

Origin  and  occurrence  of  limestone — Use  for  building 
material  —  Marble  —  Lithographic  stone  —  Mortar  and 
cement. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
SOILS  AND  MINERAL  FERTILIZERS  .        .        .        .        .        .187 

Origin  of  soil — Conditions  of  fertility — Ashes  of  plants — 
Analyses  of  some  Canadian  soils — Geological  fertilizers. 

APPENDIX 199 

Summary  of  mineral  production,  1894  and  1895  — 
Tabular  comparison  of  Canada  with  other  countries  in 
mineral  production. 


THE 

MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

IN  estimating  the  natural  resources  of  our  Dominion 
one  thinks  first  of  the  boundless  acres  of  fertile  soil. 
These,  a  perennial  source  of  wealth,  which  under  good 
management  can  never  be  exhausted,  are  certainly 
our  principal  asset.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  annual  production  of  both  our 
forests  and  our  fisheries  amounts  to  many  million 
dollars.  Until  recently  the  product  of  our  mines  was 
the  least  of  these  four  resources,  and  this  was  not 
because  we  were  without  mineral  resources,  but  that 
we  had  barely  begun  to  exploit  them. 

Timber,  fish,  minerals  are  supplies  laid  up  for  us 
by  Nature  on  which  we  can  draw  at  will.  Minerals 
once  mined  are  never  replaced.  Timber  once  cut 
might  be,  but  with  us,  never  is,  restored.  Our  fish- 
eries we  make  some  poor  attempts  to  preserve.  In 
agriculture  alone  do  we  seek  to  keep  our  rich  inheri- 
tance intact.  But  though  our  mineral  wealth  be  a 
fleeting  one — though  it  be  a  resource  which  cannot 


8  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

be  cultivated  and  increased  like  timber  or  fish — it  is 
an  asset  of  such  enormous  extent  that  it  may  be 
drawn  on  for  hundreds  of  years  to  an  amount  far  in 
excess  of  that  annually  produced  by  either  our  forests 
or  our  fisheries. 

In  considering  the  possibilities  of  mineral  develop- 
ment, attention  must  first  be  directed  to  the  extent 
and  character  of  our  country.  With  an  area  a  little 
larger  than  that  of  the  United  States  and  with  the 
same  physical  features,  it  would  be  strange  indeed  if 
much  of  the  mineral  wealth  of  that  country  were  not 
duplicated  north  of  the  boundary.  The  Rocky  Moun- 
tains and  parallel  ranges  extend  for  some  1,300  miles 
through  the  States  of  New  Mexico,  Colorado,  Wyom- 
ing and  Montana,  and  for  an  equal  distance  through 
British  Columbia  and  the  Yukon  District,  and  it  is 
safe  to  assert  that  their  mineral  wealth  does  not  stop 
at  the  forty-ninth  parallel.  So  also  the  Sierra  Nevada 
of  California  is  represented  north  of  the  boundary  by 
the  Coast  Range  of  British  Columbia,  and  the  latter 
may  yet  prove  as  rich  as  the  former. 

In  the  east  the  Appalachian  system  is  perhaps  even 
richer  north  of  the  boundary  than  south  of  it,  though 
it  is,  of  course,  of  much  less  extent.  In  the  V-shaped 
territory  of  Archgean  rocks  stretching  on  either  side 
of  Hudson  Bay  from  the  Arctic  to  the  St.  Lawrence, 
there  is  an  immense  depository  for  minerals  unequalled 
south  of  the  line.  True,  we  miss  on  the  north  the 
immense  coal  deposits  of  the  Mississippi  basin,  but  in 
a  measure  we  have  compensation  in  very  fair-sized 
coal  beds  on  both  our  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts.  It 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH    OF    CANADA.  9 

has  been  customary  for  Canadians  to  lament  the 
existence  of  this  large  area  of  non-agricultural  terri- 
tory. But  Nature  always  makes  compensation.  If 
by  mountain  upturning  or  glacial  erosion  she  has 
rendered  parts  of  our  country  unsuited  for  farming, 
she  has  in  most  instances  at  the  same  time  raised  and 
uncovered  inexhaustible  stores  of  silver  and  gold,  of 
copper  and  iron. 

Nearly  the  equal  of  Europe  in  size,  we  surpass  any 
one  nation  of  that  continent  in  the  variety  of  our 
mineral  deposits,  and  may  yet  equal  the  richest  of 
them  in  the  total  value  of  our  production.  Great 
Britain  has  had  large  deposits  of  coal,  and  her  produc- 
tion is  the  greatest  in  the  world.  Her  output  must, 
however,  shortly  begin  to  lessen,  while  ours  will 
increase.  Russia  stands  second  as  a  petroleum  pro- 
ducer, and  will  no  doubt  surpass  us  for  years.  It  is 
possible,  however,  that  fields  will  be  discovered  in  the 
North- West  quite  the  equal  of  hers.  The  copper 
output  of  Spain  at  present  exceeds  ours,  but  the 
deposits  here  are  quite  as  extensive  as  there.  Similarly 
with  other  minerals,  different  European  nations  sur- 
pass us  in  production,  but  it  is  probable  that  our 
deposits  are  the  more  extensive,  except  in  the  case  of 
coal,  petroleum  and  tin.  Already  in  asbestos  we  have 
surpassed  not  only  Europe  but  the  world.  Italy,  our 
only  competitor,  is  far  behind.  With  nickel  we  occupy 
the  same  proud  position.  Our  gold  product,  though 
it  may  never  equal  that  of  Australia  or  the  United 
States,  may  easily  exceed  that  of  all  Europe  combined. 

Our  deposits  of  iron,  lead,  silver,  copper,  salt  and 


10  THE  MINERAL   WEALTH  OF   CANADA. 

other  minerals  are  enormous.  They  are,  however, 
almost  entirely  undeveloped.  We  can  only  guess  at 
their  value.  So  far  we  have,  as  a  people,  merely 
scratched  the  surface  of  a  few  acres  of  our  mineral 
inheritance.  Australia,  with  an  area  and  population 
both  slightly  less  than  our  own,  has  an  annual  mineral 
production  nearly  three  times  the  value  of  ours. 
Belgium,  a  country  of  only  6,200,000  inhabitants, 
crowded  into  an  area  about  half  the  size  of  Nova 
Scotia,  draws  twice  as  large  an  income  from  her 
mines  as  does  Canada.  And  yet  it  is  very  probable 
that  there  is  as  much  mineral  wealth  in  Nova  Scotia 
alone  as  in  Belgium.  Indeed,  Nova  Scotia,  with  coal 
and  iron  deposits  in  close  proximity  to  each  other 
and  to  the  ocean,  should,  like  Belgium,  send  her  iron 
manufactures  to  the  ends  of  the  world. 

While  we  have  been  slow  in  beginning  the  develop- 
ment of  our  mines  a  fair  start  has  now  been  made, 
and  we  may  hope  for  more  rapid  advancement  in  the 
near  future.  The  total  value  of  the  mineral  product 
for  1896  was  about  twenty-three  and  a  half  million 
dollars.  Coal  is  the  most  important,  yielding  annu- 
ally about  eight  million  dollars.  Gold  is  second,  with 
a  product  approaching  three  million  in  value,  which 
gives  us  tenth  place  among  the  nations.  Nickel,  cop- 
per and  petroleum  each  exceed  one  million  in  value, 
and  the  silver  output  now  amounts  to  over  two  million. 
In  coal  we  rank  eleventh,  in  petroleum  fourth,  and  in 
silver  tenth.  Bricks  and  building  stones  are  the  only 
other  products  passing  the  million  line  in  value.  In 
ten  years  the  total  production  has  doubled.  (See 
Appendix.)  Within  the  last  two  years  the  gold  and 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  11 

silver  output  of  British  Columbia  has  increased  enor- 
mously. Estimated  at  $380,000  in  1893,  it  grew  to 
about  $2,200,000  in  1895,  and  reached  $3,900,000  in 
1896. 

In  succeeding  chapters  there  will  be  given  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  different  economic  minerals,  the  localities 
where  they  are  found,  and  their  uses  and  value.  To 
do  so  will  require  the  use  of  some  geological  terms, 
which  we  will  now  consider. 

Rock-forming1  Minerals. — A  mineral  is  an  inor- 
ganic, homogeneous  substance  of  definite,  chemical 
composition.  It  may  be  a  chemical  element,  more 
usually  it  is  a  compound  resulting  from  the  union  of 
two  or  more  elements  in  a  definite  proportion.  A 
rock  on  the  contrary  is  composed  "  of  one  or  more 
simple  minerals  having  usually  a  variable  chemical 
composition,  with  no  necessarily  symmetrical,  external 
form,  and  ranging  in  cohesion  from  mere  loose  debris 
up  to  the  most  compact  stone."  For  example,  granite 
is  a  rock  composed  of  a  variable  mixture  of  the 
minerals,  quartz,  felspar  and  mica.  Sandstone, 
limestone,  sand  and  gravel  are  other  examples  of 
rocks.  Gypsum  is  a  mineral  of  definite  composition, 
which  in  large  masses  may  be  considered  a  rock. 

Minerals  which  are  of  economic  value  will  be  de- 
scribed later  under  the  substance  they  yield.  A  brief 
description  of  the  chief  rock-forming  minerals  will  be 
given  here. 

Quartz  is  the  most  widely  disseminated  mineral. 
It  is  readily  distinguished  by  its  glassy  lustre  and 
great  hardness.  It  will  easily  scratch  glass  and  can- 
not be  scratched  by  a  knife.  It  never  breaks  in  flat 


12  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

surfaces  but  always  in  curved  ones.  In  color  it  is 
usually  transparent  or  white,  though  often  stained 
yellow  or  red  by  iron  oxid. 

Felspar  embraces  several  species  which  are  much 
alike  in  physical  features.  All  split  in  two  directions 
with  flat  shining  surfaces.  In  one  variety,  ortho- 
clase,  these  cleavages  are  at  right  angles.  In  the 
other  varieties,  known  collectively  as  plagioclase,  they 
are  nearly  at  right  angles.  The  latter  are  sodium, 
calcium,  aluminum  silicates  ;  the  former  has  potassium 
in  place  of  sodium  and  calcium.  The  felspars  can 
just  be  scratched  with  a  knife. 

The  micas  are  easily  known  by  their  cleavage  into 
thin  elastic  leaves.  Some  are  clear  and  transparent, 
others  black  and  opaque. 

Pyroxene  and  hornblende  are  almost  alike  in  com- 
position but  differ  in  their  angles  of  cleavage.  This 
is  a  distinction  not  evident  in  hand  specimens  of 
rocks.  Both,  as  found  in  rocks,  are  dark  green  or 
black  minerals  with  a  hardness  a  little  less  than  fel- 
spar. With  a  blowpipe  they  are  much  more  easily 
fused. 

Calcite  is  easily  recognized  when  crystallized  by 
the  rhombohedrons  or  twisted  cubes  into  which  it 
readily  breaks.  All  varieties  are  easily  cut  with  a 
knife,  and  effervesce  readily  when  touched  with  a 
drop  of  acid.  In  color  calcite  is  usually  white  or 
grey.  Dolomite  differs  from  calcite  in  having  mag- 
nesium carbonate  mixed  with  the  calcium  carbonate  of 
the  latter.  It  effervesces  with  acids  only  when  heated. 

Chlorite  occurs  in  thin  leaves  like  the  micas,  but 
unlike  them  is  not  elastic.  It  varies  in  color  from  light 


THE    MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  13 

to  dark  green.  It  is  comparatively  soft,  and  frequently 
has  a  pearly  lustre. 

Serpentine  is  usually  a  massive  mineral  with  an 
oily  green  color  and  greasy  feel.  It  is  easily  scratched 
with  a  knife.  The  fibrous  variety  is  the  asbestos  of 
commerce. 

Origin  of  Rocks. — The  minerals  described  above 
with  the  occasional  addition  of  a  few  others  in  sub- 
ordinate amounts  compose  the  bulk  of  our  rocks. 
These  constituent  minerals  are  sometimes  found  with 
a  more  or  less  perfect  crystal  form,  at  other  times  with 
the  edges  rounded  and  worn.  The  particles  vary  in 
both  cases  from  grains  of  microscopic  size  to  masses 
of  considerable  dimensions.  The  rounded  grains  are 
evidently  the  result  of  moving  water  grinding  down 
previously  existing  rocks.  Rocks  with  this  class  of 
material  are  found  to  be  arranged  in  layers  as  though 
due  to  beds  of  sediment  deposited  one  on  the  other. 
These  constitute  the  first  great  division  of  rocks 
known  as  the  Sedimentary,  Stratified  or  Fragrnental 
Rocks.  The  second  division  embraces  the  Massive, 
Igneous  or  Eruptive  Rocks,  which  have  evidently 
solidified  from  a  fluid  condition  either  within  the 
crust  of  the  earth  or  after  eruption  from  a  volcano. 
The  sharp  angles  of  the  crystals  are  preserved,  and 
one  mineral  interlocks  with  another.  These  rocks 
present  no  appearance  of  bedding.  The  third  and 
last  division  is  known  as  the  Schistose  Rocks.  They 
present  characters  intermediate  to  the  other  two. 
They  are  distinctly  bedded,  but  do  not  show  fragmen- 
tal  grains.  The  crystalline  character  of  the  constit- 
uents points  to  solidification  from  a  fluid.  In  some 
2 


14  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

cases  they  are  doubtless  sediments  which  have  been 
subjected  to  sufficient  heat  to  permit  of  the  recrystal- 
lization  of  the  minerals  without  destroying  the  strati- 
fication. For  this  reason  they  are  often  called  the 
Metamorphic  Rocks.  In  other  cases  they  are  Igneous 
Rocks,  in  which  the  divisional  planes  have  been  pro- 
duced after  the  first  consolidation. 

Description  of  Rocks. — A  few  of  the  more 
important  representatives  of  the  above  divisions  will 
be  described  here. 

Sand  is  an  unconsolidated  mass  of  fine  worn  grains 
of  the  harder  minerals.  Quartz  is  much  the  largest 
constituent  since  it  resists  decay,  whilst  the  other 
minerals  of  the  rocks,  which  are  being  worn  down, 
are  slowly  carried  off.  Magnetite,  an  oxid  of  iron,  is 
frequently  abundant  and  gives  a  black  color  to  the 
sand.  Gravel  is  coarse  sand. 

Sandstone  is  simply  consolidated  sand,  in  some  cases 
produced  by  pressure  alone,  in  others  due  to  a  cement- 
ing material.  The  cement  may  be  clay,  iron  oxid, 
silica,  or  calcite.  The  first  gives  rise  to  a  clayey  or 
argillaceous  sandstone,  which  may  graduate  into  a 
sandy  or  arenaceous  shale.  The  red  and  yellow  sand- 
stones are  due  to  oxids  of  iron. 

A  Conglomerate  is  formed  of  rounded  pebbles  up 
to  a  foot  or  more  in  diameter  consolidated  in  any  way. 
It  bears  the  same  relation  to  gravel  and  shingle  that 
sandstone  does  to  sand. 

Clay  results  from  the  decay  of  felspars  and  similar 
silicates  of  the  crystalline  rocks.  Deposited  in  water 
in  beds  it  becomes  more  or  less  consolidated,  and  is 
then  known  as  shale. 


THE    MINERAL   WEALTH    OF   CANADA.  15 

Limestones  consist  mainly  of  calcifce  or  of  calcite 
and  dolomite.  They  also  contain  greater  or  less 
quantities  of  impurities — iron,  giving  them  a  red 
color ;  carbonaceous  matter  making  them  dark ;  clay, 
and  silica  or  sand.  They  are  usually  grey  or  drab  in 
color,  of  compact  structure,  and  frequently  contain 
organic  remains.  Some  of  them  found  associated  with 
crystalline  rocks  have  been  metamorphosed  by  the 
action  of  heat  and  pressure,  and  are  of  a  crystalline, 
granular  texture.  Fine-grained  ones,  susceptible  of 
polish,  are  used  as  marble. 

Granite  is  the  most  important  of  the  massive  or 
igneous  rocks.  It  consists  of  an  intimate  mixture  of 
quartz,  felspar  and  mica.  The  crystals  of  these 
minerals  may  be  barely  visible  or  of  considerable 
dimensions.  The  felspar  may  be  red  or  white  in 
color,  and  the  granite  is  always  of  a  corresponding 
hue.  Granite  occurs  in  masses  of  large  extent  and 
also  in  dikes  in  other  rocks.  Mica  may  be  replaced 
by  hornblende,  the  rock  then  being  called  a  horn- 
blende granite. 

Felsite  is  an  intimate  mixture  of  exceedingly  fine- 
grained felspar  and  quartz.  It  varies  in  color 
through  grey,  red  and  brown  shades,  is  slightly  trans- 
lucent and  can  be  fused  with  a  blowpipe,  while  quartz, 
which  it  resembles,  cannot. 

Quartz- Porphyry. — Large  distinct  crystals  of  quartz 
or  felspar  are  often  found  in  felsite  or  in  a  fine- 
grained, microgranitic  ground-mass.  Such  a  rock  is 
known  as  a  porphyry. 

Syenite  is  a  granular  crystalline  mixture  of  ortho- 
clase  felspar  and  hornblende,  usually  red  or  grey 


16  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH    OF   CANADA. 

in  color.  It  differs  from  granite  in  the  absence  of 
quartz. 

Diorite  is  a  granular  crystalline  mixture  of  plagio- 
clase  felspar  and  hornblende.  It  is  dark  green  to 
black  in  color,  usually  fine  grained  and  often  contains 
magnetite.  Diabase,  dolerite  and  basalt  are  closely 
related  to  diorite,  and  as  all  four  weather  to  a  green 
color  they  are  often  called  greenstones. 

Gneiss. — Among  the  schistose  rocks  gneiss  is  the 
most  important.  It  resembles  granite  in  being  a 
crystalline  mixture  of  quartz,  felspar  and  mica.  It 
has,  however,  a  banded  structure  which  seems  in 
some  cases  to  be  the  result  of  an  earlier  stratification. 
This  laminated  appearance  is  not  always  very  distinct, 
and  gneiss  merges  gradually  into  granite. 

Mica  Schist  is  a  schistose  aggregate  of  quartz  and 
mica,  each  arranged  in  lenticular  wavy  laminae.  The 
mica  may  be  the  light  or  dark  colored  variety.  Seri- 
cite  mica  may  replace  the  ordinary  micas,  when  a 
sericite  schist  results.  Chlorite  and  talc  with  quartz 
and  other  minerals  make  respectively  chlorite  schist 
and  talc  schist.  The  last  three  are  grey  or  green  in 
color,  with  a  pearly  lustre  and  greasy  feel.  Slate 
results  from  the  metamorphism  and  recrystallization 
in  layers  of  ordinary  clay  and  shale. 

Relative  Age  of  Rocks. — On  examining  any  ex- 
posed section  of  the  sedimentary  rocks,  it  becomes  at 
once  evident  that  the  older  rocks  are  lowest  in  the 
series  and  the  newer  ones  on  top.  In  the  same  way 
it  has  been  determined  in  many  parts  of  the  world 
that  the  sedimentary  rocks  .rest  on  a  fundamental 
complex  of  igneous  rocks.  In  certain  of  the  sedimeu- 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  17 

tary  strata  coal  seams  are  found  in  many  parts  of  the 
world,  and  it  at  once  becomes  a  matter  of  great 
interest  to  us  as  Canadians  to  know  whether  rocks  of 
the  same  age  occur  here.  Other  strata  are  character- 
ized by  iron  ores,  or  lead  ores,  and  so  on.  Geologists 
have  thus  found  it  advantageous,  from  an  economical 
as  well  as  from  a  scientific  standpoint,  to  correlate  in 
age  the  various  rocks  of  the  world  as  far  as  possible. 
Three  guiding  principles  are  used: — 1.  That  of  super- 
position, that  the  newer  rocks  are  above  the  older. 
In  mountainous  regions  rocks  have  frequently  been 
crumpled  and  overturned,  and  this  principle  cannot 
then  be  applied.  Moreover,  it  does  not  help  to  corre- 
late the  ages  of  rocks  not  lying  together.  2.  The 
principle  that  rocks  which  are  alike  were  formed  at 
the  same  time.  This  is  only  true  for  limited  areas, 
for,  to  take  one  example,  sandstones  formed  ages 
apart  are  alike  in  composition  and  structure.  3.  The 
principle  that  animal  life  was  the  same  the  world 
over  at  corresponding  periods  in  the  growth  of  each 
section  of  the  sedimentary  deposits.  On  studying  the 
fossil  remains  entombed  in  the  stratified  rocks,  it  was 
found  that  certain  formations  contained  trilobites  in 
abundance,  others  graptolites,  others  fish,  and  so  on. 
These  characteristic  animals  were  not  confined  to  one 
horizon  but  were  found  in  several.  Beginning  in 
one  period  they  increased  enormously  in  a  second,  and 
died  out  in  a  third.  Other  animal  life,  of  course, 
existed  along  with  them.  The  life  of  a  period  as  pre- 
sented to  us  in  the  rocks  formed  at  the  time,  is  thus 
quite  sufficient  to  identify  a  rock  formed  at  the  same 
time  in  a  remote  part  of  the  world. 


18  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

In  the  study  of  English  history  it  is  customary  to 
divide  the  subject  into  epochs.  There  is  the  Saxon 
epoch,  the  Norman  epoch,  the  Plantagenet  epoch,  and 
so  on.  These  are  the  great  divisions,  and  under  them 
are  grouped  the  events  which  happened  during  the 
reigns  of  the  successive  sovereigns.  Of  course,  the 
gradual  development  of  the  English  nation  went  on 
irrespective  of  slight  changes  in  rulers.  But  the 
reign  of  the  sovereign,  as  the  representative  English- 
man, makes  a  natural  division  of  time.  So  in 
geological  history,  the  development  of  animal  types 
went  steadily  on,  but  the  ascendancy  of  some  par- 
ticular group  marks  a  division  of  time  as  does  a 
dynasty  in  history.  As  to  the  relative  lengths  of  the 
different  geological  time  divisions  little  can  be  said. 
The  main  fact  is  the  order  of  succession. 

The  oldest  rocks  are  without  fossil  remains,  and 
are  called  the  Azoic  or  Archaean  series  of  rocks,  and 
are  said  to  have  been  formed  in  Archaean  time. 
Above  these  rocks  are  found  the  Palaeozoic  series ;  on 
these  the  Mesozoic  series ;  on  these  again  the  Cenozoic 
series,  which  includes  rocks  now  forming.  These  large 
divisions  of  time  are  subdivided  as  shown  in  the 
following  chart,  the  oldest  rocks  being  at  the  bottom 
of  the  page.  The  terms  "time,"  "era,"  "period," 
"epoch,"  are  divisions  of  time;  the  corresponding 
terms  "  series,"  "  system,"  "  group,"  "  formation,"  refer 
to  the  rocks  made  during  the  interval  of  time.  The 
first  two  divisions  are  of  world -wide  application ;  the 
latter  are  only  of  local  use.  The  capital  letters  are 
those  used  on  the  Geological  Survey  maps  for  the 
respective  formations  against  which  they  are  placed. 


THE    MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 
CHART  OF  GEOLOGICAL  TIME. 


TIME. 

ERA  OR  SYSTEM. 

PERIOD  OR  GROUP. 

EPOCH  OR  FORMATION. 

Cenozoic. 

Quaternary  or 
Post-Tertiary,  M. 

Recent  or  Fost- 
Glacial,  M3. 
Glacial  or  Pleistocene, 
Ml. 

Tertiary,  L. 

Pliocene,  L3. 
Miocene,  L2. 
Oligocene,  1  T  , 
Eocene,       f  Li' 

Mesozoic. 

Cretaceous,  K. 

Cretaceous,  K. 

Jurassic,  J. 

Jurassic,  J. 

Triassic,  H. 

Triassic,  H. 

Palaeozoic. 

Carbonic,  G. 

Permian,  G4. 
Carboniferous. 
Subcarboniferous,  Gl. 

f  Coal  Measures, 
\  Millstone  Grit, 

G3. 
G2. 

Devonian,  F. 

Upper  Devonian,  F3. 
Middle  Devonian,  F2. 
Lower  Devonian,  Fl. 

/Chemung. 
\  Portage. 
Hamilton. 
/Corniferous. 
\  Oriskany. 

Silurian,  E. 

Lower  Helderberg,  E6. 
Onondaga,  E5. 

Niagara. 

{Guelph,  E4. 
Niagara,  E3. 
Clinton,  E2. 
Medina,  El. 

Cambro-Silurian 
or 
LowerSilurian,D. 

Trenton. 
Canadian  or  Quebec. 

(Hudson,  D4. 
J  Utica,  D3. 
(  Trenton,  D2. 
/Chazy. 
\Calciferous. 

Cambrian,  C. 

Upper  Cambrian  ^or 
Potsdam. 
Middle  Cambrian  or 
Acadian. 
Lower  Cambrian  or 
Georgian. 

Azoic  or 
Archsean. 

Huroiiian,  B. 

Upper  Huronian. 
Lower          '  ' 

Laurentian,  A. 

Upper  Laurentian. 
Lower          " 

20  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

LITERATURE. — Much  excellent  information  on  the  economic 
minerals  of  the  Dominion  is  to  be  found  in  the  annual  reports 
of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada.  Part  "  S  "  of  the  reports 
is  issued  separately,  and  deals  entirely  with  the  mineral  produc- 
tion of  the  year.  Geological  maps  of  many  areas  are  issued  by 
the  Geological  Survey,  and  may  be  had  for  a  few  cents.  A 
catalogue  of  the  publications  of  the  Survey  will  be  sent  on 
application  to  the  Librarian  of  the  Geological  Survey,  Ottawa. 
The  reports  issued  yearly  by  the  departments  of  mines  of  the 
provinces  of  Nova  Scotia,  Ontario  and  British  Columbia  are  of 
great  value.  The  Canadian  Mining  Review  and  the  Canadian 
Mining  Manual  contain  valuable  summaries  of  particular 
industries,  as  well  as  many  details  of  operations.  The  transac- 
tions of  several  of  the  Mining  Engineers'  Societies  contain 
papers  on  Canadian  mines. 

For  the  characteristics  of  minerals  and  rocks  the  student 
will  do  well  to  consult  Dana's  "Manual  of  Mineralogy  and 
Petrography."  On  the  geological  divisions  of  time  see  any 
good  text-book,  as  Dana's  "Manual  of  Geology,"  or  Geikie's 
"Text-book  of  Geology  "  ;  also  "Report  of  Geological  Survey, 
Canada,"  1882-84,  p.  47. 


SECTION  I. 
MINERALS  YIELDING  METALS. 

CHAPTER  II. 

ORE    DEPOSITS. 

VERY  few  of  our  useful  metals  occur  in  nature  as 
we  employ  them ;  nearly  all  are  found  combined  with 
various  elements  to  form  chemical  compounds.  Sulfur, 
oxygen  and  carbonic  acid  are  the  chief  mineralizers. 
Silica,  arsenic,  antimony  and  chlorin  are  also  found 
united  with  the  metals.  These  definite  chemical  com- 
pounds are  called  minerals.  A  mineral  occurring  in 
sufficient  amount  to  be  an  economical  source  of  a 
metal  is  called  an  ore.  Associated  with  the  metal- 
liferous mineral  there  are  usually  others  which  con- 
stitute the  gangue  or  vein-stone.  This  mixture  of 
minerals  makes  the  ore  deposit. 

Gold  and  platinum  are  nearly  always  found  free  and 
uncombined.  Sometimes  they  are  mixed  with  other 
elements  to  form  alloys,  gold  frequently  containing  a 
percentage  of  silver,  and  platinum  of  iridium.  Cop- 
per, silver  and  mercury  are  also  found  native  at  times, 
though  more  usually  combined.  Most  of  the  metals 
form  compounds  with  sulfur.  Iron  unites  with  it 
in  two  different  proportions,  but  though  widely 
spread  neither  pyrite  nor  pyrrhotite  can  be  considered 


22  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH    OF   CANADA. 

an  ore  of  iron.  Silver  sulfid,  or  argentite,  is  an  im- 
portant ore  of  silver.  So  also  are  severarl  sulfids  of 
silver  and  antimony,  and  silver  and  arsenic.  Cinna- 
bar, the  sulfid  of  mercury,  galena,  the  sulfid  of  lead, 
stibnite,  the  sulfid  of  antimony,  are  the  main  sources 
of  these  metals.  Zinc  sulfid  or  blende,  and  chalco- 
pyrite,  bornite  and  chalcocite,  three  copper  sulfids, 
are  important  ores  of  these  two  metals. 

The  oxids  of  iron,  manganese  and  tin  constitute 
the  most  important  ores  of  these  metals.  Oxids  of 
copper,  and  of  zinc,  are  also  extensively  mined. 
Among  important  carbonates  are  those  of  iron,  copper, 
zinc  and  lead.  Silicates  are  not  often  a  source  of 
metals,  but  calamine,  chrysocolla  and  garnierite  are 
mined  respectively  for  zinc,  copper  and  nickel.  Cer- 
argyrite,  or  silver  chlorid,  is  the  only  chlorid  of  eco- 
nomic importance.  Arsenopyrite,  a  compound  of 
arsenic,  iron  and  sulfur,  frequently  carries  gold. 
Arsenic  also  unites  with  nickel,  and  with  cobalt,  to 
form  ores  of  these  metals. 

Several  of  these  minerals  are  often  closely  associ- 
ated. Silver  and  lead  sulfids  are  so  frequently  mixed 
that  it  hardly  pays  to  mine  lead  ore  unless  it  contains 
some  silver.  Silver  and  zinc  sulfids  are  also  frequently 
associated.  Iron  and  copper  pyrites  are  often  inter- 
mingled ;  so  also,  iron  and  manganese  oxids.  Gold  is 
commonly  associated  with  iron  or  copper  pyrites, 
though  these  may  have  been  oxidized  on  the  surface 
of  the  deposit. 

Other  minerals  of  no  economic  value  are  usually 
associated  with  those  mentioned  above.  The  most 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  23 

common  of  these  gangues  are  quartz,  calcite,  barite 
and  fluorite.  Sometimes,  as  in  the  iron  deposits,  the 
gangue  is  relatively  small;  inmost  cases  it  constitutes 
the  great  bulk  of  the  deposit.  If  one-twentieth  of 
one  per  cent,  of  a  gold  deposit  were  gold,  i.e.,  about  a 
pound  in  a  ton,  the  ore  would  yield  $300  to  the  ton, 
while  $20  would  in  most  cases  be  very  profitable. 
Evidently  in  deposits  of  the  precious  metals  the  ore  is 
a  minor  accessory.  In  all  cases  the  deposit  must  be 
concentrated — the  vein-stone  must  be  separated.  This 
is  usually  accomplished  by  currents  of  water  which 
carry  off  the  light  gangue  and  leave  the  heavy  mineral. 
Ore  deposits  are  the  result  of  the  concentration  of 
mineral  particles  once  widely  disseminated  through 
the  surface  rocks  or  too  deeply  seated  to  be  of  use  to 
man.  They  may  consequently  be  classified  accord- 
ing to  the  manner  in  which  they  were  formed. 
Unfortunately  our  knowledge  of  their  origin  is  far 
from  perfect,  and  most  authors  adopt  an  empirical 
classification  based  on  the  form  of  the  deposit.  This 
has  its  advantages,  since  it  appeals  to  the  practical 
man  who  is  more  concerned  about  the  form  and 
permanence  of  his  deposit  than  about  the  origin. 
Many  schemes  have  been  proposed.  That  of  Louis 
("A  Treatise  on  Ore  Deposits."  Phillips  and  Louis, 
1896)  is  among  the  best,  and  will  be  followed  here: 

CLASS  I. — Symphytic  Deposits,  or  those  formed  at  the 
same  time  as  the  enclosing  rocks. 

(a)  Clastic  deposits. 

(b)  Precipitates  from  aqueous  solution. 


24  THE    MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

(c)  Deposits  from  solution  subsequently  metamor- 
phosed. 

(d)  Disseminations  through  sedimentary  beds. 


CLASS  II.—  Epactic  Deposits,  or  those  formed 

quently  to  the  enclosing  rocks. 
Sub-class  1.     Veins: 

(e)  Fissure  veins. 

(/)  Bedded  veins. 

(g)  Contact  veins. 

(h)  Gash  veins. 
Sub-class  2.     Masses : 

(i)  Stockworks. 

(j)  Massive  deposits  in  limestone. 

(k)  Massive  deposits  connected  with  igneous  rocks. 

(I)  Disseminations  in  igneous  rocks. 

Symphytic  Deposits.— These  have  been  laid  down 
as  beds  in  sedimentary  rocks  and  have  subsequently 
been  subject  to  the  same  folding  as  the  enclosing 
sediments.  They  may  now  be  found  in  synclinals 
or  basins,  or  in  anticlinals  or  saddles.  These  ore 
deposits,  like  all  other  sediments,  may  be  affected  by 
fissures  and  faults.  Portions  of  a  bed  originally  con- 
tinuous may  thus  be  found  at  very  different  levels 
on  opposite  sides  of  a  fissure.  The  fault  may  also 
cause  a  horizontal  separation  of  hundreds  of  feet. 
When  the  fault  is  vertical  no  horizontal  displacement 
occurs.  More  frequently  the  fault  is  inclined,  and 
dislocation  results  according  to  the  following  law :  The 
portion  of  the  bed  that  lies  on  the  inclined  plane  slips 


THE    MINERAL    WEALTH    OF   CANADA.  25 

down  relatively  to  the  other  part.  Or,  as  it  is  stated 
for  the  miner,  "  if  in  driving  on  a  bed  a  fault  is  met 
with  in  the  roof,  go  down;  if  first  in  the  floor,  go  up, 
to  find  the  faulted  portion." 

(a)  The  clastic  deposits  have  been  produced  by  the 
disintegration  of  more  ancient  metalliferous  deposits. 
This  may  have  occurred  at  the  present  position  of  the 
ore,  but  usually  water  has  transported  and  assorted 
the  products  of  decay.  The  black  iron  sands,  mag- 
netite and  ilmenite,  are  the  most  wide-spread  repre- 
sentatives of  this  class  in  Canada.  Along  the  Great 
Lakes  and  especially  along  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence, 
immense  bodies  of  these  sands  are  met.  They  are 
due  to  the  decomposition  of  the  basic  rocks  of  the 
Laurentian.  Owing  to  their  high  percentage  of 
titanium  they  are  of  little  value  as  a  source  of  iron. 
More  important  from  the  economical  standpoint  are 
the  auriferous  gravels  of  British  Columbia  and  the 
sands  of  the  Chaudiere,  Quebec.  The  heavy  gold 
brought  from  the  mountains  by  the  streams  was 
deposited  on  the  current  being  checked  These 
irregular  beds  are  known  as  placers.  The  process  has 
been  going  on  in  all  geological  periods,  and  auriferous 
gravels  are  known  which  were  formed  by  rivers  in 
Cambrian  times.  Platinum  is  entirely  derived  from 
similar  placers.  Tin,  in  the  form  of  the  oxid,  is  also 
largely  won  from  river  gravels. 

(6)  The  ores  of  iron  and  manganese  are  practically 
the  only  ones  formed  by  precipitation  from  aqueous 
solution.  The  process  has  taken  place  in  all  ages  and 
is  still  at  work.  The  acids  resulting  from  the  decay 


26  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF  CANADA. 

of  plant  life  are  good  solvents  of  the  oxids  of  iron  so 
widely  distributed  in  the  igneous  rocks.  The  car- 
bonate of  iron  found  in  some  limestones  is  soluble  in 
water  impregnated  with  carbonic  acid.  Iron  pyrite 
oxidizes  to  ferrous,  or  ferric  sulfate,  both  soluble  salts. 
In  these  ways  great  quantities  of  iron  are  leached 
from  the  rocks  and  carried  to  ponds,  where,  exposed 
to  the  action  of  the  air,  carbonic  acid  is  evolved  and 
the  iron  precipitated  either  as  the  carbonate  or  as 
the  hydrated  oxid.  Limonite,  or  bog  iron  ore,  is 
essentially  the  hydrated  peroxid  of  iron  (Fe203  + 
3  H2O),  though  impurities  are  often  present.  There  is 
no  doubt  but  that  it  is  formed  in  the  way  indicated. 
This  ore  is  found  quite  extensively  near  Three  Rivers, 
Que.  It  occurs  in  swamps  one  to  fifteen  feet  below  the 
surface  in  patches  from  three  to  thirty  inches  thick, 
and  from  a  few  square  feet  to  several  acres  in  extent. 
Similar  ore  is  found  in  lakes  in  Quebec  and  Sweden. 
The  deposits  are  dredged,  and  it  is  found  that  they 
are  renewed  quite  rapidly.  In  ten  to  twenty-five 
years  economic  amounts  have  been  known  to  form. 
Clay  iron-stone,  or  argillaceous  carbonate  of  iron,  is 
found  in  the  Carboniferous  rocks  of  Nova  Scotia.  It 
has  doubtless  been  formed  in  the  same  way  as  the 
more  recent  deposits. 

(c)  The  deposits  of  tljis  group  were  probably  formed 
just  as  those  of  the  previous  one,  but  were  afterwards 
subjected  to  metamorphism.  The  oxids  of  iron,  hema- 
tite (Fe2O3),  and  magnetite  (Fe304),  are  the  great 
representatives  of  the  group.  These  ores  were  prob- 
ably deposited  as  the  hydrated  oxid  in  swamps  or 


THE    MINERAL   WEALTH    OF    CANADA.  27 

lakes.  Subsequently  the  bog  ore  was  covered  by 
sediment,  and  the  whole  subjected  to  heat  and  pres- 
sure. The  water  was  driven  from  the  ore  and  the 
materials  of  the  sediment  recrystallized.  In  many 
cases  the  beds  were  upturned,  and  the  present  ores 
seem  at  times  to  be  in  veins  rather  than  in  beds.  For 
the  most  part  they  occur  in  rocks  of  Lauren  tian, 
Huronian  and  Cambrian  age.  Scores  of  examples  are 
afforded  by  the  Archaean  of  Canada. 

(d)  The  ores  disseminated  through  beds  form  a 
very  important  group  economically.  Genetically  they 
connect  the  two  great  classes  of  ore  deposits.  The 
main  mass  of  the  rock,  the  non-metallic  portion  of  the 
deposit,  is  of  sedimentary  origin.  The  metallic  por- 
tion was  introduced  later,  probably  in  solution.  Some 
have  held  that  the  metallic  portion  also  is  of  sedi- 
mentary origin.  We  know,  however,  of  no  process 
by  which  lead  sulfid,  copper  sulfid  or  gold  may  be 
precipitated  from  sea- water.  On  the  contrary,  we  do 
know  that,  under  certain  circumstances,  subterranean 
water  may  carry  these  materials  in  solution.  Indeed, 
it  is  in  this  way  that  fissures  have  been  filled.  Two 
examples  of  dissemination  may  be  mentioned.  In  the 
Permian  rocks  of  Mansfeld,  Germany,  there  is  a  shale 
impregnated  with  several  copper  minerals,  which  has 
been  mined  for  centuries.  The  bed,  which  is  only  a 
foot  and  a  half  thick,  extends  for  miles.  The  rich 
gold  deposits  of  the  Witwatersrand,  South  Africa,  are 
of  similar  origin.  Sand  and  conglomerate  beds,  quite 
destitute  of  gold,  were  here  upturned  and  faulted. 
Concurrently  subterranean  waters  bearing  gold  in 


28  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF    CANADA. 

solution  penetrated  the  more  porous  beds.  The  con- 
glomerates thus  contain  most  of  the  gold — the  sand- 
stones but  little. 

Epactic  Deposits. — All  the  ore  deposits  of  this 
class  were  formed  subsequently  to  the  enclosing  rocks, 
consequently  fragments  of  these  rocks  are  often 
found  in  the  ore  body.  With  the  exception  of  iron 
the  larger  proportion  of  every  metal  is  derived  from 
this  class  of  deposits.  Two  subdivisions  of  the  class 
are  recognized  depending  on  the  form  of  the  deposit. 
Under  the  term  vein  is  included  the  tabular  deposits, 
which  have  considerable  length  and  depth  but  small 
breadth.  The  mass  deposits  include  the  remaining 
irregular  ones,  which  have  no  definite  shape  and  are 
of  varying  size. 

(e)  Fissure  veins  have  originated  in  dislocations 
of  the  country  rock,  caused  by  movements  of  the 
earth's  crust ;  subsequently  they  have  been  filled  with 
mineral  matter.  A  dike,  which  bears  a  superficial  re- 
semblance to  a  fissure  vein,  differs  in  that  it  has  been 
formed  by  an  intrusive  sheet  of  igneous  rock.  Its 
constituents  are  generally  non-metallic.  A  true  fissure 
vein  cuts  across  the  planes  of  bedding  of  a  sediment- 
ary rock. 

The  walls  of  a  vein  are  seldom  parallel  for  any 
distance.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  there  has 
usually  been  a  slipping  or  faulting  along  the  fissure. 
Conceive  an  irregular  crack  in  the  crust,  and  that  one 
side  has  slipped  downwards,  and  the  walls  will  no 
longer  be  parallel;  on  the  contrary  there  will  be  a 
succession  of  narrow  and  wide  parts  of  the  vein,  if, 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  29 

indeed,  it  does  not  pinch  out  entirely  at  places.  Con- 
nected with  this  movement  there  will  be  a  grinding 
of  the  two  walls,  which  often  leaves  a  peculiar  smooth 
surface,  with  parallel  scratches  called  slickensides.  A 
fine  powder  also  results.  This  with  water  forms  a 
seam  of  clay — the  selvage  of  the  vein.  Most  of  these 
fissures  are  vertical  or  nearly  so.  The  greatest  angle 
of  inclination  which  they  make  with  the  horizon  is 
called  their  dip.  The  horizontal  direction  at  right 
angles  to  this  is  called  the  strike.  With  inclined 

O 

veins  the  upper  wall  is  known  as  the  hanging  wall ; 
the  lower  as  the  foot  wall. 

In  size  veins  vary  greatly.  Some  have  been 
traced  for  several  miles  in  length ;  others  have  been 
mined  to  a  depth  of  half  a  mile.  In  thickness  they 
vary  from  a  minute  crack  to  many  yards.  From 
their  mode  of  formation  they  are  believed  to  extend 
indefinitely  in  depth.  Because  of  their  persistency 
and  regularity,  true  fissure  veins  are  looked  on  with 
most  favor  by  the  miner. 

The  ultimate  cause  of  the  formation  of  fissures  is 
probably  to  be  found  in  the  cooling  of  the  earth's 
interior.  As  this  portion  of  the  globe  cools  it  must 
contract,  and  this  necessitates  the  folding  in  of  the 
outer  crust.  This  crust  must  be  crumpled  and  folded 
to  permit  of  its  occupying  less  space,  and  fissures 
would  naturally  occur  parallel  to  the  axis  of  folding. 
The  settling  down  of  the  upper  rocks  would  produce 
forces  of  compression  and  torsion,  and  Daubree  has 
shown  experimentally  that  in  this  way  two  sets  of 
fissures,  at  right  angles  to  each  other,  would  be  pro- 
3 


30  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

duced.  This  is  in  accordance  with  the  facts  noticed 
in  many  mining  regions.  Some  fractures  may  be  due 
to  the  contraction  of  a  cooling  mass  of  igneous  rock ; 
others  are,  perhaps,  caused  by  the  drying  of  a 
sedimentary  rock,  and  consequent  contraction  and 
fissuring.  Most  fissures  are,  however,  the  result  of 
dynamic  causes,  not  of  contraction. 

The  fissure  being  formed,  it  is  next  in  order  to 
inquire  how  it  was  filled.  Before  discussing  this 
point  certain  characteristics  -of  veins  should  be  noted. 
As  a  usual  thing  the  larger  part  of  every  vein  is 
occupied  by  the  non-metalliferous  gangue.  Quartz, 
calcite  and  fluorite  are  common  vein-stones.  They 
are  crystalline  in  structure,  and  are  often  arranged  in 
layers  on  the  walls.  The  metallic  portion  of  the  vein 
is  very  irregularly  distributed.  In  few  cases  does  it 
pay  to  remove  the  whole  of  the  vein-stone,  and  only 
the  richer  parts  are  hoisted  to  the  surface.  Some- 
times the  metallic  portion  is  concentrated  in  a 
horizontal  band  in  the  vein.  This  is  known  as  a 
course  of  ore.  At  other  times  the  metal-bearing 
minerals  are  concentrated  in  somewhat  vertical  bands 
in  the  plane  of  the  vein.  These  are  known  as  shoots 
(also  written  chutes}  of  ore,  or  chimneys.  The  shoots 
of  a  vein  are  usually  parallel  to  one  another,  and  the 
angle  of  inclination  is  most  commonly  that  of  the 
bedding  or  cleavage  of  the  rocks  in  which  the  vein 
occurs.  When  the  ore  occurs  in  detached  patches  it 
is  said  to  be  bunchy. 

The  nature  of  the  country  rock  seems  to  often 
exert  great  influence  on  the  ore  body.  In  Cumber- 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF  CANADA.  31 

land,  England,  it  has  been  noticed  that  the  veins 
enclosed  in  limestone,  sandstone  or  schist  are  more 
productive  than  those  between  walls  of  slate.  In 
Derbyshire  the  veins  traverse  igneous  rocks  and  also 
shales  and  sandstones.  In  the  latter  the  veins  are 
productive;  in  the  former  the  lead  ore  is  usually 
absent.  At  the  famous  Silver  Islet  mine,  Lake 
Superior,  the  ore  was  found  in  a  vein  intersecting  a 
diabase  dike  in  argillite.  The  vein  was  exceptionally 
rich  in  the  diabase,  but  barren  in  the  argillite.  Depth 
has  no  known  influence  on  the  character  of  a  vein. 

The  Filling  of  Veins. — After  the  formation  of  the 
fissure  it  was  filled  with  gangue  and  ore.  Where 
were  the  materials  found,  and  how  were  they  trans- 
ported to  the  vein  ?  Seven  distinct  theories  are 
tabulated  by  Louis,  some  of  which  have  only  an 
historical  value  : 

1.  Theory  of  Contemporaneous  Formation. 

2.  Theory  of  Electric  Currents. 

3.  Theory  of  Aqueous  Deposition  from  above. 

4.  Theory  of  Igneous  Injection. 

5.  Theory  of  Sublimation. 

6.  Theory  of  Lateral  Secretion. 

7.  Theory  of  Ascension. 

The  first  three  may  be  dismissed  as  incorrect.  The 
fourth,  while  the  acknowledged  mode  of  formation  of 
dikes  of  igneous  rocks,  does  not  account  for  many 
characteristics  of  veins.  Sublimation  probably  ac- 
counts satisfactorily  for  the  presence  of  mercury  and 
cinnabar  throughout  a  rock.  The  theory  supposes  the 
metal  to  be  volatilized  in  the  hot  interior  of  the  earth 


32  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF  CANADA. 

and  deposited  in  the  cool  part  of  the  vein  above.  It 
fails  to  account  for  the  vein-stones,  and  so  cannot  be 
accepted  for  many  deposits. 

The  theory  of  lateral  secretion  was  put  on  a  firm 
basis  by  the  labors  of  Sandberger.  He  taught  that 
water  percolating  through  the  country  rock  had,  by 
means  of  natural  solvents,  such  as  carbonic  acid, 
leached  from  it  the  materials  which  were  afterwards 
deposited  in  the  vein  as  the  water  evaporated.  By 
careful  chemical  examinations  he  showed  that  all  the 
common  metals  were  to  be  found  in  the  silicates  of 
the  crystalline  rocks.  Pyroxene,  hornblende,  the 
micas  and  the  felspars  were  the  depositories  whence 
not  only  copper,  lead,  zinc,  etc.,  were  derived,  but  also 
the  gangue  materials,  silica,  fluorin,  etc. 

Sedimentary  rocks,  apart  from  the  limestones,  con- 
sist of  the  debris  of  the  older  crystalline  rocks.  Con- 
sequently the  metal-bearing  silicates,  finely  comminu- 
ted it  may  be,  should  also  be  present  in  stratified 
rocks  like  shale  and  slate.  Lead,  copper,  zinc,  arsenic 
and  others  were  actually  found  in  clay  slates.  Thus 
he  proved  that  the  metals  occurred  in  rocks  of  every 
geological  age. 

This  theory  explains  fairly  well  the  origin  of  the 
metals  and  gangue,  accounts  for  the  frequent  banded 
structure  of  a  vein,  explains  the  fact  that  shoots 
usually  follow  the  dip  of  the  enclosing  rocks,  and 
gives  a  good  reason  for  the  changes  which  take  place 
when  a  vein  passes  from  one  formation  to  another. 
Against  it  may  be  urged  that  different  sets  of  fissures 
traversing  the  same  formation  often  contain  very 


THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA.  33 

different  ores.  It  is  also  to  be  noted  that  a  vein  tra- 
versing several  formations  often  contains  the  same 
ore. 

The  theory  of  ascension  had  as  its  strongest  sup- 
porter Posepny,  of  Germany.  He  believed  that  the 
vein  material  is  carried  in  solution  from  the  hot 
interior  of  the  globe.  Opposing  the  view  that  the 
metals  are  derived  from  the  crystalline  rocks,  he  sup- 
posed a  heavy  metalliferous  layer  at  a  considerable 
distance  below  the  surface.  Water  slowly  forcing  its 
way  down  becomes  superheated,  and  under  the  great 
pressure  is  an  active  solvent.  In  this  way  the  metals 
and  vein-stone  are  leached  from  the  rock,  carried  into 
the  vein  and  deposited  above.  Veins  are  actually 
being  formed  to-day  in  this  way  in  Nevada  and  Cali- 
fornia. The  theory  avoids  some  of  the  difficulties  of 
the  previous  one,  but  creates  others. 

American  geologists  are  inclined  to  accept  a  theory 
combining  the  best  points  of  the  last  two.  Le  Conte 
asserts  that  the  source  of  the  metals  is  a  leaching  of 
all  the  wall  rocks,  but  mainly  the  lowest  portions. 
Metals  have  been  brought  up  by  ascending  currents, 
and  smaller  contributions  have  come  from  the  upper 
rocks.  Highly  alkaline  water  was  the  main  solvent. 
The  sulfids  were  the  chief  minerals  dissolved,  and 
deposition  took  place  in  all  kinds  of  fissures.  The 
deposits  are  found  mainly  in  mountainous  regions  and 
in  metamorphic  and  igneous  rocks,  because  there  the 
fissures  were  made  and  the  heated  layer  occurs  nearest 
the  surface. 

A  fissure  vein  has  not  always  two  well-marked  walls. 


34  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA. 

Frequently  one  or  both  are  wanting.  The  alkaline 
silicate  in  its  upward  passage  in  the  fissure  often 
attacked  the  wall  rock,  and  exchange  of  molecules 
occurred.  Parts  of  the  rock  were  dissolved  and  car- 
ried off — some  of  the  ore  was  deposited  in  its  place. 
In  this  way  the  wall  disappeared,  and  the  vein  was 
widened  in  an  irregular  manner. 

(/)  Bedded  veins  are  parallel  with  the  bedding  or 
foliation  of  the  country  rock,  while  the  previous  class 
cut  it  in  all  directions.  This  class  of  fissures  is  due  to 
a  plane  of  weakness  in  the  bedding,  or  to  a  folding 
of  the  beds  which  has  left  a  cavity.  They  are  not  so 
continuous  as  true  fissures,  but  one  vein  usually  suc- 
ceeds another.  They  vary  considerably  in  thickness, 
and  are  often  lenticular ;  many  of  them  do  not  appear 
at  the  surface.  They  may  be  faulted  like  an  ordinary 
fissure  vein ;  the  gangue  and  ore  are  alike  in  both 
classes.  Gold  particularly  is  found  in  bedded  veins, 
those  of  Nova  Scotia  being  good  examples. 

(g)  Contact  veins  are  cavities  between  dissimilar 
rocks  which  have  been  filled  with  ores  through  the 
influence  of  one  of  the  rocks.  Obviously  they  re- 
semble bedded  veins  in  appearance,  except  where  one 
rock  is  eruptive.  An  excellent  example  is  afforded 
by  the  deposits  of  Leadville,  Col.  Igneous  dikes 
have  here  crossed  beds  of  limestone.  Mineral-bearing 
solutions  passing  up  the  line  of  weakness  between  the 
two  rocks  have  dissolved  the  limestone  and  replaced 
it  with  silver-lead  ores. 

(h)  Gash  veins  are  properly  irregular  deposits 
made  in  the  joints,  and  between  the  beds,  of  limestone. 


THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  O#  CANADA.  $5 

They  are  of  small  extent,  and  do  not  pass  vertically 
to  any  distance.  Water,  charged  with  carbonic  acid, 
has  probably  dissolved  the  rock  along  the  joint-plane, 
and  subsequently  mineral  matter  has  been  deposited 
from  solution.  The  lead  and  zinc  ores  occurring  in 
the  Trenton  limestone  of  Iowa  and  Missouri  are  the 
best  examples. 

(i)  A  stockwork  consists  of  a  mass  of  igneous, 
metamorphic  or  stratified  rock,  "  impregnated  with 
metalliferous  mineral,  either  in  the  form  of  small 
reticulated  veinlets,  or  more  or  less  uniformly  dis- 
seminated through  the  rock  in  connection  with  the 
veins."  The  mass  nas  no  definite  limits,  and  merges 
gradually  into  the  surrounding  rock.  Typical  ex- 
amples are  the  tin  deposits  of  Saxony  and  of  Corn- 
wall. Apparently  the  rocks  containing  the  tin  ore 
have  been  shattered,  and  mineral-bearing  solutions 
rising  in  the  fissures  have  deposited  their  burden  there 
or  exchanged  part  of  it  for  a  portion  of  the  wall  rock. 
This  group  of  deposits  is  accordingly  related  to  the 
true  fissure  veins. 

( j)  Massive  deposits  in  calcareous  rocks  seem  to  be 
due  to  the  slow  replacement  of  the  soluble  limestone 
by  the  ore  of  a  mineral-bearing  solution.  Apart  from 
their  irregular  form  they  closely  resemble  gash  veins, 
and  should  perhaps  include  them.  The  deposits  are 
very  irregular  in  size  and  shape.  Many  of  the  silver 
deposits  of  Nevada  afford  good  examples  of  this  class. 

(k)  Masses  in  igneous  rocks  are  either  irregular  or 
lenticular  in  shape,  and  are  found  either  in  the  rocks 
or  at  the  plane  of  contact  between  them  and  an  older 


36  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

rock.  They  resemble  somewhat  contact  veins,  but 
are  not  tabular  like  them.  Oxids  of  iron  and  sulfids 
of  iron,  of  copper  and  of  nickel  are  the  chief  minerals 
of  this  class  of  deposits.  The  sulfids  have  probably 
been  introduced  in  solution  in  cavities  which  were 
subsequently  enlarged  by  the  exchange  of  the  mineral 
for  the  rock.  A  typical  example  is  afforded  by  the 
copper  and  nickel  deposits  of  Sudbury,  Ontario. 
Here  the  ore  is  found  in  lenticular  masses,  either  in 
diorite  or  at  the  contact  of  the  diorite  and  the  Hur- 
onian  schists  which  it  pierces. 

Immense  deposits  of  magnetite  and  hematite  are 
found  in  the  Archaean  rocks  of  Ontario  and  Quebec. 
They  are  irregular  in  shape,  and  occur  in  igneous 
rocks  or  crystalline  limestone.  By  some  authors  they 
are  classed  here,  though  others  assert  that  they  are 
metamorphosed  sediments  and  belong  to  group  c. 

(1)  Disseminations  in  igneous  rocks  include  (!)  de- 
posits resembling  the  last,  but  where  the  metallifer- 
ous part  is  so  scattered  that  the  whole  rock  must  be 
removed ;  (2)  deposits  where  an  igneous  rock  has 
been  impregnated  rather  than  a  stratified  one,  as  in  d. 
A  typical  example  is  afforded  by  the  native  copper 
deposits  of  the  basin  of  Lake  Superior. 

Surface  Appearance  of  Ore  Deposits. — In  most 
cases  ore  deposits  are  very  different  on  the  surface  to 
what  they  are  when  opened.  At  a  few  feet  below  the 
surface,  the  distance  varying  with  the  locality,  a  zone 
of  water,  known  as  the  water-line,  is  met.  Above  this, 
air,  water  and  chemical  agents  may  react  on  the  ore, 
and  the  usual  result  is  oxidation.  Hydrates,  carbon- 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  37 

ates,  sulfates  and  chlorids  may  also  be  formed.  Many 
of  these  are  soluble  and  are  carried  off  by  water.  These 
surface  accumulations  are  called  gossan.  The  French 
name,  chapeau  de  fer,  and  the  German,  eisen  hut,  both 
meaning  "  iron  hat,"  are  very  expressive.  Iron  pyrites 
is  a  very  widely  disseminated  mineral,  and  on  oxi- 
dation it  yields  the  hydrated  oxid,  limonite,  reddish  to 
brown  in  color.  In  and  beneath  this  layer  there  is 
often  found  a  rich  deposit  of  gold,  silver  or  copper,  as 
the  case  may  be.  The  weathering  of  the  vein  has 
permitted  the  removal  of  the  gangue  and  the  concen- 
tration of  the  heavier  metals.  From  this  fact  arises 
the  German  proverb : 

"  A  mine  is  ne'er  so  good  as  that 
Which  goes  beneath  an  iron  hat." 

Below  this  again  the  water-line  is  reached,  and  the 
character  of  the  ore  may  change  entirely.  For 
instance,  a  gold  ore  may  be  free-milling  on  the  surface, 
and  below  become  most  refractory.  A  case  in  point 
is  afforded  by  the  gold  ores  of  Hastings,  Ontario. 
Rich  and  free-milling  on  the  surface,  they  rapidly 
became  arsenical  and  rebellious.  Lead  and  zinc  may 
exist  as  the  carbonates  on  the  surface,  and  pass  at  the 
depth  of  a  few  feet  into  the  sulfids,  galena  and  blende. 
Distribution  of  Ore  Deposits. — A  consideration 
of  the  methods  of  formation  of  ore  deposits  would 
lead  us  to  expect  them  where  one  or  more  of  the  fol- 
lowing conditions  are  presented :  1.  A  region  of  dis- 
turbance, where  fissures  may  have  been  made  and 
circulation  promoted.  2.  A  region  where  heat  has 


38  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA. 

been  at  work.  This  may  have  been  due  to  volcanic 
action  or  produced  by  metamorphism.  3.  Where 
the  solvent  action  of  water  has  been  enormously 
increased  by  the  pressure  of  overlying  rocks  and  by 
the  greater  heat.  4.  Where  action  has  been  long 
continued,  and  feeble  agencies  may  thus  have  been 
able  to  effect  considerable  change.  In  accordance 
with  these  conditions  we  find  the  great  majority  of 
ore  deposits  (1)  near  eruptive  rocks,  especially  the 
earlier  ones ;  (2)  in  mountainous  regions,  particularly 
those  which  have  been  well  denuded,  as  shown  by  their 
low  rounded  forms ;  (3)  in  regions  of  ancient  rocks. 

Erroneous  Ideas  Regarding  Ore  Deposits. — 1.  It 
is  often  asserted  that  true  fissure  veins  are  likely  to 
increase  in  width  as  the  shaft  is  sunk.  The  truth  is 
that  they  will  widen  and  narrow  alternately,  some- 
times pinching  out  entirely.  If  at  the  present 
surface  a  vein  is  narrow  it  may  widen  for  a  time ;  if, 
on  the  contrary,  it  is  struck  at  a  wide  part  it  may 
narrow  for  a  time.  A  good  illustration  of  this,  both 
as  regards  changes  in  the  depth  and  the  length  of  a 
vein,  is  a  torn  paper,  with  the  parts  slightly  shifted 
to  show  the  faulting. 

2.  Fissure  veins  are  said  to  grow  richer  as  depth 
increases.     Apart  from  the  enriching  at  the  surface 
due  to  the  decay  and  removal  of  the  vein  matter,  this 
is  hardly  true.     The  ore  in  a  vein  is  always  irregularly 
distributed.     In  sinking  the  miner  will,  of  course,  pass 
from  poor  portions  to  richer  ones  and  then  on  to  lean 
ones  again. 

3.  It  is  often  held  th  it  certain  directions  of  strike 


THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA.  39 

in  veins  indicate  rich  or  poor  deposits.  This  can  only 
be  true  of  limited  regions  where  the  parallel  fissures 
may  be  supposed  to  be  due  to  the  same  cause.  Those 
formed  at  the  one  time  are  likely  to  have  been  filled 
with  the  same  solution.  An  earlier  or  later  set  of  fis- 
sures might  have  been  filled  with  a  different  solution 
containing  no  metallic  ore,  or  a  different  one.  The 
strike  of  veins  containing  the  same  ores  may  be 
widely  different  in  different  localities. 

4.  The  country  rock  certainly  exerts  an  influence 
on  the  vein  material,  and  preference  for  a  particular 
kind  on  the  part  of  the  miner  is  justifiable  within 
limited  regions.  Nevertheless,  a  wall  rock  which  is 
barren  in  one  district  may  prove  to  be  rich  in  another. 

LITERATURE. — "A  Treatise  on  Ore  Deposits,"  Phillips  and 
Louis,  1896.  "The  Genesis  of  Ore  Deposits,"  Posepny,  Trans. 
Am.  Inst.  Min.  Eng.  XXIII.,  197-369.  Newberry,  "School  of 
Mines  Quart.,"  1880,  V.  337. 


CHAPTER  III. 

IRON,  MANGANESE  AND  CHROMIUM. 

Ores  of  Iron. — Among  the  metals  iron  is  easily  of 
first  importance,  because  so  indispensable  to  all  our 
industrial  undertakings.  It  is  widely  distributed  in 
nature,  occurring  as  an  oxid  and  as  a  carbonate. 
Magnetite  (Fe3O4)  is  richest  in  metallic  iron,  containing 
72  per  cent,  when  pure.  It  can  always  be  attracted 
by  a  magnet,  and  often  is  itself  able  to  attract  soft 
iron.  It  is  with  difficulty  scratched  by  a  knife,  and 
yields  a  black  powder.  Some  varieties  contain  man- 
ganese, others  titanium.  Hematite  (Fe2O3)  contains, 
when  pure,  70  per  cent,  of  iron.  Several  varieties  are 
distinguished,  all  of  which  yield  a  dark  reddish 
powder.  The  hard  crystalline  kind,  with  a  steely 
lustre,  is  called  specular  ore ;  a  black,  shining,  scaly 
ore  is  known  as  micaceous  hematite.  Mixed  with 
clay  it  yields  a  brown-black  to  reddish  colored  ore  of 
dull  lustre.  The  harder  mixtures  are  clay  iron-stones ; 
the  softer  are  red  ochres.  Fossil  ore  consists  of  red 
oolitic  grains.  Part  of  the  iron  of  hematite  is  often  re- 
placed by  titanium.  Brown  hematite  ore  includes  a 
number  of  minerals,  all  of  which  are  hydrated  oxids» 
such  as  limonite  (2Fe2O3  +  3H20),  gothite,  etc.  These 
minerals  yield  water  when  heated,  give  a  brown 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  41 

powder  and  streak,  and  contain  60  per  cent,  or  less  of 
iron.  Iron  carbonate,  called  siderite  or  spathic  iron 
ore,  contains  about  48  per  cent,  of  iron.  It  is  brown 
in  color,  cleaves  readily  into  rhombohedrons,  and 
effervesces  when  heated  with  acids.  In  coal  regions 
it  is  frequently  found  mixed  with  earthy  matter,  and 
is  then  known  as  clay  iron-stone.  Mixed  with  bitu- 
minous matter,  it  forms  black  band. 

Clay  iron-stone,  though  containing  a  smaller 
amount  of  iron,  is  often  more  valuable  than  richer 
ores  because  of  its  proximity  to  coal  and  fluxes. 
Ores  of  iron  are  so  widely  distributed  and  in  such 
large  amounts  that  only  those  deposits  which  are 
favorably  located  can  be  utilized.  The  value  of  an 
iron  deposit  depends  on  (1)  its  proximity  to  fuels  and 
fluxes  needed  for  its  reduction ;  (2)  its  freedom  from 
injurious  materials  not  readily  removed  in  smelting ; 
(3)  the  percentage  of  iron  which  the  ore  will  yield. 

Anthracite,  coke  and  charcoal  are  the  usual  fuels. 
Limestone  is  the  flux  employed  to  remove  the  common 
impurities  of  clay  and  quartz.  The  proximity  of 
these  materials  in  Nova  Scotia  has  caused  a  develop- 
ment of  the  iron  industry  there,  while  the  rich  ores  of 
Ontario  are  neglected.  Other  impurities  are  phos- 
phorus, sulfur  and  titanium.  A  small  amount  of 
sulfur  causes  an  iron  to  be  "red-short,"  that  is,  brittle 
and  difficult  to  work  at  a  red  heat.  One-tenth  of  one 
per  cent,  of  phosphorus  causes  the  metal  to  be  "cold- 
short "  or  brittle  when  cold.  Ores  containing  these 
elements  are  unsuited  for  the  manufacture  of  steel. 
By  lining  the  converter  with  a  magnesium  or  calcium 


42  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

mineral  it  has  been  found  to  be  possible  to  use  many 
ores  formerly  rejected  because  of  their  phosphorus. 
Titanium  does  not  injure  the  iron,  but  the  presence  of 
any  amount  in  the  ore  increases  the  expense  of 
reducing  it. 

Geological  Occurrence. — The  ores  of  iron  are 
found  particularly  in  the  oldest  formations.  The 
Laurentian,  Huronian  and  Cambrian  are  the  great 
iron  ages.  The  ores  in  rocks  of  these  periods  are 
hematites  and  magnetites,  especially  the  latter. 
Hematites  are  found  in  Silurian  and  Devonian  strata 
in  Nova  Scotia.  Siderite  is  found  in  the  Palaeozoic  of 
Nova  Scotia,  and  in  the  form  of  clay  iron-stone 
throughout  the  Cretaceous  and  early  Tertiary  of  the 
North- West.  Limonite  is  abundant  in  the  Silurian 
and  Devonian  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  its  modern  repre- 
sentative, bog  iron'ore,  is  found  in  the  Post-Tertiary 
of  Quebec  and  Ontario.  This  last  has  been  dissolved 
by  organic  acids  from  the  crystalline  rocks,  and 
deposited  in  swamps  after  oxidation.  The  beds  in 
the  Archaean  are  doubtless  metamorphosed  bog  ores, 
though  in  some  cases  they  may  be  of  an  eruptive 
origin. 

Canadian  Localities.  —Maritime  Provinces. — Iron 
ores  occur  in  large  amounts  in  Nova  Scotia.  All 
varieties  are  represented,  and  are  found  in  nearly 
every  geological  age.  Active  operations  are  confined 
to  the  counties  of  Pictou,  Annapolis  and  Colchester. 
These  counties  respectively  produced  31,000,  30,000 
and  18,000  tons  of  ore  in  1895.  In  Pictou  the  ores 
are  found  along  the  East  River  close  to  the  coal  field. 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  43 

In  Devonian  strata  beds  of  brown  hematite  with 
specular  ore  and  siderite  are  found.  An  oolitic 
hematite  resembling  the  Clinton  ore  of  the  United 
States  occurs  in  Silurian  beds.  The  largest  deposits, 
and  the  only  ones  yet  worked,  are  found  at  the  con- 
tact of  the  Carboniferous  rocks  with  earlier  forma- 
tions. The  ore  is  mostly  brown  hematite.  Two 
companies  are  mining  and  smelting  these  ores.  A  char- 
coal furnace  is  used  at  Bridgeville,  and  Bessemer  pig 
is  made  with  coke  at  Ferrona.  At  Torbrook,  Annap- 
olis county,  there  is  a  considerable  area  of  hematite 
ores.  The  beds  are  three  to  twelve  feet  thick,  and 
the  ore  is  of  good  quality.  It  is  shipped  to  London- 
derry and  Ferrona.  At  the  Acadia  Mines,  Colchester 
county,  there  is  "  an  extensive  development  of  brown 
hematite  in  a  vein  in  Devonian  strata  associated  with 
specular  ore,  ochre,  ankerite  and  other  carbonates  of 
lime,  iron  and  magnesia."  This  ore,  mixed  with 
hematite  from  Torbrook,  is  smelted  by  the  London- 
derry Iron  Company.  The  product  is  largely  sold  in 
Montreal. 

In  Cape  Breton  there  are  numerous  beds  of  hema- 
tite and  magnetite  in  Archaean  strata.  Specular  ore 
is  found  in  Guysboro'  and  hematite  in  Antigonish. 
Other  localities  are  Pugwash,  Grand  Lake,  Brookfield, 
Goschen,  Selma,  Clifton,  etc. 

In  Carleton  county,  N.B.,  beds  of  hematite  are 
found  in  Lower  Silurian  slates.  A  charcoal  furnace 
was  in  blast  for  some  time  at  Woodstock,  and  several 
thousand  tons  of  iron  made. 

Ontario   and   Quebec. — Bog   iron   ores   were   first 


44  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

discovered  in  the  district  of  Three  Rivers  in  1667.  The 
first  forges  were  erected  in  1733,  and  iron  has  been 
smelted  in  the  district  almost  continuously  since 
that  date.  The  Radnor  Forges  near  Three  Rivers 
are  the  present  representative  of  the  old  industry. 
Bog  ore  is  procured  on  both  sides  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  charcoal  made  in  the  vicinity  is  used  for 
fuel.  The  product  is  particularly  adapted  for  car 
wheels.  At  Drurnmondville,  on  the  St.  Francis,  are 
two  other  furnaces  also  using  bog  ore  and  charcoal. 
The  ore  is  mined  partly  in  the  vicinity  and  partly  in 
Vaudreuil.  Bog  ores  are  quite  abundant  in  the  low 
lands  flanking  the  Laurentian  hills  on  the  north  of 
the  St.  Lawrence.  In  the  Archaean  rocks  north  of 
the  Ottawa  and  St.  Lawrence  immense  beds  of  mag- 
netite and  hematite  are  found.  Below  Quebec  these 
often  contain  considerable  titanium,  but  to  the  west 
many  of  them  are  excellent  ores.  Beds  twenty-five 
feet  wide  are  of  common  occurrence.  For  the  most 
part  they  are  interstratified  with  gneiss.  In  the 
metamorphic  rocks  of  the  Eastern  Townships  other 
important  deposits  are  found.  Except  for  the  occa- 
sional export  of  a  few  tons  these  oxids  are  unused. 

In  Ontario  similar  beds  of  hematite  and  magnetite 
are  found  in  Archaean  rocks.  Large  amounts  have 
been  mined  at  several  localities,  but  no  regular  opera- 
tions are  going  on  at  present.  Most  of  the  ore  was 
exported  ;  some  of  it  was  smelted  at  furnaces  now  dis- 
mantled. The  chief  mining  locations  are  along  the 
Kingston  and  Pembroke  Railway ;  in  Hastings,  Peter- 
boro'  and  Victoria  counties;  north  of  Lake  Huron; 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH    OF    CANADA.  45 

west  of  Lake  Superior.  In  the  last  district,  on  the 
Mattawin  and  Atikokan  rivers,  bodies  of  ore  are  found 
which  resemble  in  appearance  and  mode  of  occurrence 
the  famous  deposits  of  Minnesota.  The  ores  of  Gun- 
flint  Lake  are  a  continuation  northwards  of  the  Mesabi 
range  of  Minnesota. 

Bog  ores  are  found  at  a  number  of  places  in  south- 
western Ontario.  They  were  smelted  early  in  the 
century,  and  are  again  being  mined  for  a  new  furnace 
at  Hamilton.  This  furnace  also  uses  hematite  and 
magnetite  from  other  parts  of  Ontario.  Siderite  is  re- 
ported as  occurring  in  large  deposits  in  the  Devonian, 
on  Moose  River. 

Western  Canada. — Clay  iron-stone  occurs  at  a  num- 
ber of  places  throughout  the  lignite  Tertiary  of  the 
North- West,  but  nowhere  in  economic  amounts.  It  is 
also  found  in  the  coal  series  of  British  Columbia. 
Magnetite  is,  however,  the  chief  ore  of  this  province. 
It  has  been  mined  at  Kamloops  Lake,  Redonda  Island 
and  Texada  Island  for  export.  It  is  found  in  many 
localities  and  of  good  quality.  The  ore  bed  at  Tex- 
ada is  twenty  to  twenty-five  feet  thick,  and  extends 
for  a  mile  with  a  thickness  of  one  to  ten  feet. 

Production. — Canada  is  particularly  backward  in 
developing  her  iron  industries.  Few  countries  have 
larger  deposits  of  ore,  and  much  of  it  is  convenient  to 
coal  and  flux.  The  smallness  of  the  market  is  the 
great  difficulty.  Moreover,  Nova  Scotia,  the  chief 
producer,  is  some  distance  from  Ontario,  the  chief  con- 
sumer. The  following  tables  will  give  an  idea  of  the 
industry : 


46 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 


MATERIALS  MADE  AND 

USED. 

1894. 

1895. 

QUANTITY. 

VALUE. 

QUANTITY. 

VALUE. 

Pig  iron  made  —  tons     .  . 

50,000 
109,000 
1,174,000 
52,000 
8,000 
35.000 

$647,000 
224,000 
54,000 
142,000 
15,000 
34.000 

52,000 
93,000 
790,000 
49,000 
3,000 
32.000 

$696,000 
218,000 
32,000 
139,000 
5,0.0 
30.000 

Iron  ore  consumed  —  tons   . 
Fuel      f  Charcoal  —  bush 
con-     -{  Coke  —  tons  
sumed.   [Coal  —  tons    
Flux  consumed  —  tons  .  . 

By  provinces  the  production  of  ore  in  1895  was: 

Nova  Scotia 83,792  tons. 

Quebec 17,783     „ 

British  Columbia 1,222     „ 

Total 102,797     M 

In  1895  the  exports  of  iron  and  steel  goods  amounted 
to  $175,000  and  the  imports  to  $8,002,000.  There 
was  further  imported  scrap  iron,  etc.,  to  the  value  of 
$697,000,  and  against  this  an  export  of  ore  valued  at 
$4,000. 

Compared  with  foreign  countries  the  Canadian  pro- 
duction is  insignificant.     The  following  table  is  com- 
piled from  Rothwell's  "  Mineral  Industry  "  : 
PRODUCTION  OF  IRON  AND  STEEL  IN  THE  WORLD,  1895. 


COUNTRY. 

PIG  IRON. 

STEEL. 

United  States       

9,597,000 

6,213,000 

Great  Britain 

8,022  000 

3,150,000 

Germany             

5,789,000 

2,825,000 

France   

2,006,000 

717,000 

Russia 

1,454,000 

574,000 

Metrictons 

Austria  

1,075,000 

495,000 

of   2204 

Belgium 

829,000 

456,000 

|       Ibs. 

Sweden 

465,000 

230,000 

Spain  

206,000 

65,000 

Canada 

38,000 

All  others 

387,000 

329,000 

29,868,000 

15,054,000 

THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  47 

Great  Britain  and  Germany  are  relying  more  and 
more  on  imported  ores.  Spain,  which  ranks  fourth  as 
a  producer  of  iron  ore,  exports  considerable  to  Britain. 
Sweden  also  ships  ore  to  that  country. 

LITERATURE. — History  of  manufacture  in  Canada,  Bartlett, 
Trans.  Am.  Inst.  Mm.  Eng.  XIV.  508 ;  Canadian  Mining 
Manual,  1896.  Theories  of  Origin,  Phillips  and  Louis,  "Ore 
Deposits  " ;  Winchell,  Bull.  6  Minn.  Geol.  Sur.  Statistics,  Rep. 
S  Geol.  Sur.  Can.  Localities,  Catalogue  of  the  Museum.  Nova 
Scotia  :  Pictou,  Geol.  Sur.  V.  1890,  175  P  ;  Trans.  Am.  Inst. 
Min.  Eng.  XIV.  54;  Reports  Dep.  of  Mines;  "Acad.  Geol." 
New  Brunswick:  Geol.  Sur.  1874.  Quebec:  Geol.  Sur.  IV. 
1888  K.  Ontario :  Geol.  Sur.  1873-74 ;  Bur.  of  Mines,  1892. 
British  Columbia:  Rep.  Geol.  Sur.,  III.  1887  R. 

MANGANESE. 

The  ores  of  manganese  are  almost  wholly  oxids,  or 
hydroxids,  though  the  metal  occurs  in  many  other 
forms.  It  is  similar  to  iron  in  its  chemical  affinities  and 
geological  distribution,  so  that  it  often  occurs  with  ores 
of  that  metal.  Pyrolusite  (Mn02),  the  dioxid  of  man- 
ganese, is  the  most  important  mineral  by  reason  of  its 
purity.  Wad,  or  bog  ore  manganese,  is  more  widely 
distributed,  but  is  often  useless  through  the  presence  of 
sulfur,  phosphorus,  etc.  Psilomelane,  manganite,braun- 
ite  and  hausmannite  are  other  manganese  minerals. 
Some  silver  and  some  zinc  ores  contain  a  considerable 
amount  of  manganese,  which  is  saved  as  a  by-product. 

The  great  use  of  the  metal  is  in  the  iron  industry. 
Nine- tenths  of  the  product  is  converted  into  spiegel- 
eisen  and  f erro-manganese,  two  alloys  with  iron  con- 
taining from  one  to  ninety  per  cent,  of  manganese. 
These  alloys  are  invaluable  in  the  manufacture  of 


48  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

steel.  Not  only  does  the  manganese  prevent  the 
oxidation  of  the  iron,  but  a  small  per  cent,  increases 
the  strength  of  the  steel.  Because  of  the  readiness 
with  which  pyrolusite  yields  oxygen,  it  is  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  chlorin  and  as  a  decolorizer  of  glass. 
Compounds  of  manganese  are  also  used  as  coloring 
materials  in  calico-printing,  coloring  glass  and  pottery, 
and  in  paints.  For  these  chemical  processes  only  the 
purest  pyrolusite  is  available,  whilst  for  spiegel-eisen 
an  ore  containing  iron,  water  or  calcite  may  be  used. 
Pyrolusite,  manganite  and  wad  are  widely  distrib- 
uted through  the  Lower  Carboniferous  rocks  around 
the  Bay  of  Fundy.  The  first  systematic  mining 
operations  were  begun  at  Tenny  Cape,  N.S.,  in  1862. 
Two  years  later  a  mine  was  opened  at  Markhamville, 
N.B.,  which  has  proved  the  most  productive  of  the 
district.  The  ore  occurs  as  lenticular  layers  inter- 
bedded  in  limestone,  or  in  pockets  bearing  from  a  few 
pounds  to  four  thousand  tons.  Other  localities  are, 
Quaco  Head,  Jordan  Mountain,  Glebe  and  Shepody 
Mountain,  N.B.,  and  Cheverie,  Walton,  Onslow,  Loch 
Lomond,  Cape  Breton,  N.S.  Much  of  the  ore  is 
sufficiently  pure  to  be  used  for  chemical  purposes, 
some  of  it  selling  at  the  mines  for  $125  a  ton.  The 
lower  grades  are  used  in  the  iron  industry.  In 
Colchester  and  Pictou  counties  many  of  the  iron  ores 
are  highly  manganiferous.  A  number  of  deposits  of 
wad  occur  in  Quebec,  principally  in  the  Eastern  Town- 
ships. Pyrolusite  is  found  on  the  Magdalen  Islands, 
Que.,  and  manganite  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake 
Superior.  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia  are  the 
only  producing  provinces,  and  most  of  their  output  is 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  49 

exported.  In  1895  the  production  was  125  tons, 
valued  at  $8,464.  In  the  same  year  oxid  of  man- 
ganese to  the  value  of  $2,800  was  imported.  The 
industry  has  fallen  off  enormously  since  1890. 

LITERATURE. — Penrose  in  the  annual  report,  1890,  Vol.  I., 
Arkansas  Geol.  Sur.,  gives  a  complete  account  of  the  origin, 
occurrence,  use,  etc.,  of  the  manganese  deposits  of  America. 
Geol.  Sur.  Can.,  V.  1890  S.  Dawson,  "Acad.  Geol." 

CHROMIUM. 

Chromium  occurs  in  nature  as  the  mineral  chromite 
(FeCr204  ),  isomorphous  with  magnetite.  It  is  usually 
massive,  finely  granular  or  compact,  hard  and  black. 
It  occurs  in  serpentine,  either  in  veins  or  in  im- 
bedded masses.  It  is  rarely  reduced  to  the  metallic 
state,  but  a  small  quantity  is  used  in  a  steel  alloy, 
valuable  on  account  of  its  great  hardness  combined 
with  toughness.  A  more  extensive  use  is  in  the 
manufacture  of  chromates  of  sodium  and  potassium 
used  in  dyeing. 

Chromite  occurs  in  Quebec  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  asbestos  mines.  Many  pockets  have  been  dis- 
covered and  quarried,  but  no  systematic  mining  oper- 
ations have  been  undertaken.  Much  of  the  ore 
averages  50  per  cent,  and  is  worth  at  the  railway  $26 
a  ton.  The  richer  ore  is  shipped  to  the  United  States 
and  a  small  amount  to  Nova  Scotia.  The  lower  grade 
ores  are  marketed  in  Great  Britain.  The  production 
in  1895  was  3,177  tons,  valued  at  $41,000. 

LITERATURE. — Geol.  Sur.  IV.  1888  K.  Can.  Mining  Manual, 
1896. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

NICKEL   AND    COBALT. 

Ores  of  Nickel. — There  are  a  large  number  of 
minerals  containing  nickel,  but  most  of  them  are 
not  found  in  any  abundance.  Those  which  have  been 
used  as  ores  are  a  few  of  the  sulfids  and  a  silicate. 
Millerite  (Ni  S)  contains  64  per  cent,  of  nickel,  and  is 
characterized  by  its  brass-yellow  color,  greenish-black 
streak  and  hair-like  crystals.  Niccolite  is  the  arsenid 
of  nickel  and  gersdorffite  the  sulpharsenid.  Pyrrho- 
tite, (Fe7S8)  is,  however,  the  chief  sulfur  ore  of 
nickel.  In  many  localities  a  small  percentage  (up  to 
6)  of  nickel  replaces  a  portion  of  the  iron.  The 
nickel  is,  indeed,  an  impurity  in  the  pyrrhotite,  and 
only  the  large  amount  in  which  this  mineral  is  found 
makes  it  valuable  as  a  source  of  nickel.  In  color 
pyrrhotite  is  bronze-yellow  to  copper-red,  and  often 
tarnished  on  the  surface.  The  streak  is  dark  greyish- 
black,  and  the  powder  magnetic.  Genthite  is  a 
hydrous,  nickel,  magnesium  silicate  found  on  Michi- 
picoten  Island,  Lake  Superior,  and  containing  23  per 
cent,  of  nickel.  Closely  related  to  it  is  garnierite,  a 
soft,  amorphous,  pale-green  mineral  somewhat  indefi- 
nite in  composition  but  containing  eight  to  thirty-six 
per  cent,  of  nickel. 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA.  51 

Distribution. — The  minerals  containing  nickel  are 
found  all  over  the  world,  but  in  few  localities  are 
they  sufficiently  concentrated  to  be  of  value  as  ores. 
Pyrrhotite  is  found  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
but  the  amount  of  nickel  contained  is  usually  small. 
Pyrrhotites  from  near  St.  Stephen,  N.B.,  show  2.5  per 
cent,  of  nickel,  which  is  almost  as  much  as  the  average 
of  the  famous  Sudbury  region. 

In  the  last-named  district  several  score  of  rich  de- 
posits of  nickeliferous  pyrrhotite  have  been  found  in  a 
belt  of  country  four  or  five  miles  wide  and  fifty-five 
miles  long.  Outlying  deposits  occur  south  to  the  Geor- 
gian Bay,  to  the  north-west  at  Straight  Lake,  and 
probably  far  to  the  north-east.  Deposits  of  a  similar 
character  are  worked  in  Norway.  Millerite  was 
noticed  by  officers  of  the  Geological  Survey  at  the 
Wallace  Mine  on  the  shore  of  the  Georgian  Bay  as 
far  back  as  1848,  but  it  was  not  until  1883  that  the 
riches  of  the  district  were  discovered. 

Silicates  of  nickel  are  seldom  absent  from  the  mag- 
nesium rocks  of  the  Eastern  Townships,  Que.,  but  in 
no  place  are  they  of  economic  importance.  They  are 
reported  in  paying  quantities  from  Oregon  and 
Nevada,  and  small  amounts  have  been  mined.  New 
Caledonia,  a  French  penal  colony,  has  until  recent 
years  been  much  the  largest  producer  of  nickel.  The 
ore,  garnierite,  is  found  in  veins  in  serpentine  associ- 
ated with  chromic  iron  and  steatite. 

Millerite  has  been  worked  at  the  Lancaster  Gap 
Mine,  Pa.,  for  a  number  of  years,  but  the  mine  is  no 


52  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA. 

longer  productive.  The  same  mineral  was  mined  at 
Brompton  Lake,  Que.,  but  as  the  rock  mass  only  con- 
tained 1  per  cent,  of  nickel  the  operation  was  not 
profitable. 

Geological  Occurrence.— All  the  important  de- 
posits of  nickel  occur  in  metamorphic  rocks.  Gar- 
nierite,  the  silicate,  is  found  with  serpentine,  and  the 
sulfids  and  arsenids  are  associated  with  quartzites, 
slates  and  schists.  In  the  Sudbury  District  the  ores 
are  found  in  masses,  not  in  true  fissure  veins,  in 
Huronian  strata.  The  ore  mass  is  usually  a  brecciated 
mixture  of  country  rock,  chalcopyrite  and  pyrrhotite. 
Sometimes  one,  sometimes  the  other  of  the  last  two 
predominates,  but  they  are  too  intimately  mixed  to 
admit  of  separation  by  sorting.  Originally  the  de- 
posit was  worked  for  copper.  The  ore  mass  is  usually 
lens-shaped,  not  only  horizontally  but  also  vertically. 
Diabase  and  diorite  have  been  erupted  through  the 
Huronian  sediments,  and  the  nickel  and  copper 
deposits  are  usually  close  to  the  contact.  Occasionally 
the  ores  are  found  in  granite  where  diabase  has 
pierced  it.  The  sulfids  are  often  found  in  the  dia- 
base itself,  and  the  enclosing  rock  is  frequently  im- 
pregnated. This  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  ores 
and  the  diabase  have  been  introduced  at  the  same 
time,  possibly  at  the  close  of  the  Huronian. 

Several  companies  are  energetically  engaged  in 
mining  and  roasting  the  ores  of  the  Sudbury  district. 
As  mined  the  ore  contains  one  to  four  per  cent  of 
nickel  and  four  to  ten  per  cent,  of  copper.  About 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH    OF   CANADA.  53 

3  per  cent,  of  nickel  seems  to  be  the  average,  and 
occasionally  one-fiftieth  of  this  is  cobalt.  After  being 
raised  the  ore  is  piled  in  heaps  and  roasted,  sulfur 
being  given  off.  It  is  then  smelted  to  a  matte  which 
carries  about  20  per  cent,  of  nickel  and  20  per  cent,  of 
copper.  This  is  shipped  to  New  Jersey  or  Wales  for 
further  treatment,  as  no  refining  is  done  in  Canada. 

Uses. — The  metal  is  used  for  subsidiary  coinage  by 
the  United  States,  Belgium  and  Germany.  A  small 
amount  is  made  into  cheap  jewelry,  principally  watch 
cases.  An  alloy  of  nickel,  copper  and  zinc  is  largely 
used  under  the  name  of  German  silver.  Electro- 
plating with  nickel  is  widely  used  to  beautify  parts 
of  stoves,  bicycles,  etc.  A  far  more  extensive  use 
than  any  of  these  has  been  found  in  recent  years. 
Steel,  alloyed  with  a  small  percentage  of  nickel,  is 
greatly  increased  in  strength.  For  armor  plate  the 
alloy  seems  particularly  adapted.  Where  lightness 
as  well  as  strength  is  a  consideration,  nickel-steel 
seems  destined  to  replace  ordinary  steel. 

The  price  of  nickel  is  gradually  lessening  as  im- 
proved processes  of  refining  are  invented.  In  1873  it 
was  worth  $6.00  a  pound;  in  1890,  65  cents;  in  1893, 
52  cents ;  in  1895, 35  cents.  The  annual  consumption 
is  about  four  thousand  tons,  of  which  Canada  furnishes 
one-half;  Norway  mines  a  few  hundred  tons,  and 
nearly  all  the  remainder  comes  from  New  Caledonia. 
The  Canadian  production  has  been  as  follows  : 


54 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 


YEAR. 

Pounds  of 
Nickel  in  Matte. 

Value  at 
Mine. 

Final  Value. 

1893 

3  983  000 

$630  000 

$2  071,000 

1894                .     .    . 

4,907,000 

559,000 

1,871,000 

1895  

3,889,000 

522,000 

1,361,000 

LITERATURE. — Description  of  the  Sudbury  Deposits  :  Bell, 
"Report  F,  Geol.  Sur.  Can.,"  V.,  1890-91;  Barlow,  "Rep. 
S,  Geol.  Sur.  Can.,"  V.,  1890-91,  pp.  122-140.  Metallurgy: 
Bureau  of  Mines  of  Ontario  Rep.  1892,  pp.  149-161.  Use  in 
Armor  Plate,  etc.:  Ib.  1893  and  1894.  Origin:  "Mineral 
Industry,  "1895,  p.  746. 

COBALT. 

Cobalt  occurs  in  a  number  of  minerals,  principally 
sulfids  and  arsenids,  and  usually  associated  with  nickel 
and  iron.  Nearly  all  meteoric  iron  contains  a  small 
amount  of  the  metal.  While  there  are  a  number 
of  minerals,  they  are  not  widely  distributed  and 
seldom  occur  in  large  amount.  Most  of  the  cobalt  of 
commerce  is  a  by-product  in  the  refining  of  nickel. 
In  one  mine  of  the  Sudbury  district  about  0.08  of 
1  per  cent,  of  the  ore  smelted  is  metallic  cobalt.  This 
represents  a  production  of  nineteen  tons  in  1893,  and 
three  tons  in  1894,  worth  about  $460  a  ton.  Cobalt 
is  used,  chiefly  as  the  oxid,  in  the  manufacture  of 
paints,  colored  porcelain,  etc. 


CHAPTER  V. 
COPPER  AND  SULFUR.* 

Ores  of  Copper. — Chalcopyrite  (Cu  Fe  S2),  the  most 
common  ore  of  copper,  resembles  ordinary  iron 
pyrites,  but  is  much  softer  and  of  a  deeper  yellow. 
It  yields,  when  pure,  a  little  over  34  per  cent,  of 
copper.  This  is  the  chief  copper  ore  of  the  Sudbury 
District.  Bornite,  also  known  as  variegated  copper 
ore,  is  an  iron  copper  sulfid  like  chalcopyrite,  but 
with  a  percentage  of  copper  which  varies  from  55  to 
60.  It  is  copper- red  to  brown  in  color,  and  the  sur- 
face is  always  tarnished.  Chalcocite  (Cu?  S),  called  also 
vitreous  copper  ore,  contains  about  80  per  cent,  of 
copper.  It  is  blackish  lead-grey  in  color,  often  tar- 
nished blue  or  green,  and  is  comparatively  soft.  It 
is  found  in  rich,  but  small,  deposits  in  the  Carbon- 
iferous rocks  of  Pictou,  N.S.  These  three  ores  are 
said  to  furnish  three-fourths  of  the  world's  supply  of 
copper.  Native  Copper  is  next  in  importance,  fur- 
nishing about  one-sixth.  Most  of  this  comes  from 
the  south  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  but  the  mineral  is 
also  found  in  considerable  quantities  on  the  north 
side.  It  is  found  also  in  the  Triassic  trap  of  Nova 

*  "  Standard  "  Dictionary. 


56  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH  OF   CANADA. 

Scotia,  on  the  Coppermine  River  far  to  the  north,  and 
in  British  Columbia,  but  so  far  not  in  economic 
amounts.  The  mineral  has  a  characteristic  red  color, 
a  bright  metallic  lustre,  and  can  be  cut  with  a  knife. 
Malachite,  the  green  carbonate  of  copper,  Azurite,  the 
blue  carbonate,  Cuprite,  the  red  oxid,  Chrysocolla,  the 
bluish-green  silicate,  are  other  ores  as  yet  of  no 
economic  importance  in  Canada.  Tetrahedrite,  also 
called  grey  copper,  is  a  complex  sulfid  of  copper, 
antimony  and  other  metals.  It  is  proving  of  value 
as  a  source  of  silver  in  British  Columbia,  and  so 
incidentally  yields  copper. 

Geological  Occurrence. — Copper  ores  are  more 
usually  found  in  the  oldest  rocks,  the  Archaean  and 
Cambrian  strata  being  particularly  rich.  Workable 
deposits  are,  however,  found  as  late  as  the  Permian, 
as  at  Mansfeld,  Germany. 

The  ores  are  found  (1)  in  veins  intersecting  older 
rocks,  as  at  Bruce  Mines,  north  of  Lake  Huron  ;  (2)  in 
mass  deposits,  as  at  the  immense  quarries  on  the  Rio 
Tinto,  Spain;  (3)  disseminated  in  beds,  as  at  Mansfeld  ; 
(4)  as  impregnations  in  amygdaloid s  and  conglomer- 
ates, well  exemplified  in  the  basin  of  Lake  Superior. 

Canadian  Localities. — Maritime  Provinces. — The 
copper  ore  mined  in  Canada  at  present  is  only  inci- 
dental to  the  production  of  sulfur,  nickel  and  the 
precious  metals.  At  a  number  of  places  in  the  Mari- 
time Provinces  development  work  has  been  under- 
taken. Sulfids  have  been  found  in  Pictou  county, 
N.S.,  and  in  St.  John  and  Albert  counties,  N.B.,  and 
in  the  latter  case  were  worked  for  a  time.  In 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA.  57 

Annapolis  county  the  Triassic  traps  contain  strings 
of  native  copper  which  may  prove  of  value.  The 
Coxheath  Mine,  Cape  Breton,  is  of  greater  promise. 
A  number  of  veins  bearing  chalcopyrite  are  there 
found  traversing  a  mass  of  f elsitic  rocks  of  Laurentian 
age.  Considerable  sinking  and  drifting  has  been  done, 
and  several  thousand  tons  of  ore  have  been  raised, 
large  parts  of  which  average  10  per  cent,  of  copper. 
Smelting  works  are  being  erected  on  Sydney  Harbor. 
About  two  thousand  tons  of  copper  ore  are  mined 
annually  in  Newfoundland. 

Quebec. — Several  score  of  "  mines  "  and  many  more 
"  prospects  "  have  been  partially  explored  in  south- 
eastern Quebec.  Some  of  these  have  proved  to  be 
rich  deposits,  and  others  might  probably  have  been 
made  paying  investments  had  development  work  been 
carried  far  enough.  The  deposits  occur  along  three 
anticlinal  axes  running  north-eastward  from  the  Ver- 
mont boundary.  The  ores  are  the  sulfids — chalcopy- 
rite, chalcocite  and  bornite.  They  are  found  in  veins, 
in  irregular  masses  and  in  what  seem  to  be  beds,  but 
which  are  probably  in  reality  of  eruptive  origin.  In 
nearly  all  cases  they  are  associated  with  diorites, 
apparently  of  Cambrian  age.  In  the  western  belt  the 
variegated  and  vitreous  ores  are  most  common,  and 

o 

occur  in  dolomitic  beds  belonging  to  the  Upper  Cam- 
brian. The  pioneer  mine  of  the  district  was  the 
Acton,  first  worked  in  1858.  From  it  sixteen  thous- 
and tons  of  12  per  cent,  copper  were  taken. 

In  the  central  and  eastern  belts  the  ores  occur  in 
Pre-Cambrian,  micaceous  and  chloritic  schists.  The 


58  THE  MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

Harvey  Hill  and  Huntingdon  mines  represent  the 
former  region,  the  Capleton  group  the  latter.  Many 
hundred  tons  were  produced  by  the  Harvey  Hill  and 
Huntingdon,  but  they  have  been  closed  for  several 
years.  In  the  Capleton  district  the  ore  is  a  mixture 
of  chalcopyrite  and  pyrite  containing  thirty-five  to 
forty  per  cent,  of  sulfur,  and  four  to  five  per  cent,  of 
copper.  It  carries  in  addition  from  one  to  seventy- 
five  ounces  of  silver  to  the  ton,  averaging  $4.00  to 
$5.00  in  value.  The  Eustis  mine,  typical  of  the  group, 
is  an  irregular  deposit  four  to  fifty  feet  wide  and 
explored  to  a  depth  of  1,600  feet.  Most  of  the  ore  is 
shipped  to  New  Jersey  for  the  manufacture  of  sul- 
furic  acid.  The  copper  and  silver  are  afterwards 
refined. 

Ontario. — Chalcopyrite  and  native  copper  are  the 
two  important  copper  ores  of  Ontario.  The  former 
occurs  in  greatest  abundance  north  of  Lake  Huron ; 
the  latter  around  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior.  The 
years  1849-1875  constitute  the  first  period  of  copper 
mining  in  Ontario,  during  which  much  ore  was  raised 
and  shipped,  but  without  profit  to  the  shareholders. 

The  Bruce  and  Wellington  mines  on  the  north  shore 
of  Lake  Huron  produced  nearly  forty-five  thousand 
tons  of  dressed  copper  ore,  worth  about  $3,500,000. 
The  mines  embrace  half  a  dozen  veins  of  quartz  in 
diorite,  spread  over  an  area  of  a  square  mile.  The 
veins  were  three  to  fifteen  feet  wide,  and  the  work- 
ings were  carried  down  about  450  feet.  The  ore, 
mainly  chalcopyrite,  averaged  6  J  per  cent,  copper  as  it 
came  from  the  shaft.  The  great  expense  of  mining 


THE  MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  59 

and  shipping  to  England,  the  failure  of  smelting 
plants  erected  at  the  mines,  the  decrease  in  the  value 
of  copper,  all  contributed  to  make  the  work  unprofi- 
table at  that  time. 

Since  1846  a  number  of  companies  have  made 
explorations  at  Michipicoten  Island,  St.  Ignace  Island, 
Mamainse,  Point  Aux  Mines,  and  other  places  on  the 
north  shore  of  Lake  Superior.  The  rocks  outcrop- 
ping at  these  points  are  the  same  as  those  which  in 
Michigan  have*  proved  to  be  so  rich  in  native  copper. 
According  to  Irving,  the  bed  of  Lake  Superior  is  a 
geosyncline,  the  Huronian  and  overlying  Keweenaw- 
ian  rocks  extending  beneath  the  waters  of  the  lake 
in  a  gentle  fold.  The  Keweenawian  formation,  or 
Nipigon,  as  it  is  known  in  Ontario,  outcrops  as  a 
narrow  fringe  around  part  of  the  shore  of  the  lake, 
except  in  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Nipigon  where  a 
considerable  area  is  found.  Through  these  Nipigon 
sediments  immense  masses  of  volcanic  material  were 
erupted,  and  in  the  more  vesicular  outflows  and  in 
the  associated  sandstones  native  copper  is  now  found. 
Keweenaw  Point  on  the  south  shore  has  proved  to  be 
exceptionally  rich.  One  of  its  mines,  the  famous 
Calumet  and  Hecla,  produced,  in  1895,  one  tenth  of 
the  whole  world  product  of  copper.  On  the  Canadian 
shore  native  copper  has  been  found  at  a  number  of 
points,  often  in  rich  though  small  amounts,  and 
always  inciting  the  explorers  to  develop  their  proper- 
ties further.  The  ore  exists  as  an  impregnation  of 
beds  of  sandstones,  conglomerates  and  vesicular  trap. 
It  is  also  found  in  veins,  associated  with  calcite, 


60       THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA. 

cutting  these  beds.  The  copper  is  always  irregularly 
distributed,  and  considerable  quantities  of  barren 
rock  have  often  to  be  removed.  Prehnite  arid  epidote 
are  here  associated  with  the  copper,  as  on  the  south 
shore.  Indeed,  the  indications  are  quite  favorable, 
but  so  far  no  profitable  mine  has  been  discovered.  A 
six-hundred-pound  mass  of  native  copper,  taken  from 
a  shaft  at  Mamainse,  is  probably  the  largest  yet 
found.  At  Michipicoten  a  shaft  has  been  sunk  over 
five  hundred  feet  in  an  amygdaloidal  bed,  and  1,500 
feet  of  drifting  done.  The  copper  carries  a  little 
native  silver  in  many  places,  and  malachite,  cuprite, 
chalcopyrite  are  often  found  with  it. 

In  1882  large  deposits  of  chalcopyrite  were  dis- 
covered near  Sudbury,  Ont.  The  ore  is  "  a  brecciated 
or  agglomerated  mixture  of  the  pyrrhotite  and  chal- 
copyrite along  with  the  country  rock."  This  mixed 
ore  is  usually  in  or  near  masses  of  diorite,  intrusive 
through  Huronian  or  Laurentian  rocks.  It  occurs  in 
lenses  which  thicken  and  thin  out  vertically  as  well 
as  laterally.  At  first  the  ore  was  mined  for  copper, 
but  nickel,  which  is  found  in  the  pyrrhotite,  is  now 
the  more  valuable  constituent.  (See  Nickel.)  The 
average  output  of  the  three  mines  of  the  Canadian 
Copper  Company  is  4.3  per  cent,  of  copper,  and 
3.5  per  cent,  of  nickel.  The  ores  are  roasted  in 
heaps  in  the  open  air  to  drive  off  sulfur,  then 
smelted  to  a  matte  containing  eighteen  to  twenty 
per  cent,  each  of  copper  and  nickel.  This  matte  is 
shipped  to  New  Jersey  or  to  Wales  for  further  treat- 
ment. The  quantity  of  ore  in  the  district  seems 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  61 

inexhaustible,  and  the  copper  and  nickel  mines  are 
now  firmly  established.  In  1895  eighty-six  thousand 
tons  of  ore  were  smelted  at  Sudbury. 

British  Columbia. — Ores  of  copper  are  widely 
distributed  throughout  the  whole  area  of  the  Pacific 
Province.  Several  attempts  have  been  made  to 
develop  them,  but  so  far  unsuccessfully.  Many  of 
the  most  promising  gold  and  silver  ores  contain  large 
amounts  of  copper,  and  the  recently  developed  mines 
in  West  Kootenay  are  yielding  a  very  large  amount 
of  copper  in  addition  to  the  gold  and  silver  for  which 
they  are  worked. 

Uses. — Next  to  silver,  copper  is  the  best  conductor 
of  electricity,  and  so  is  used  in  telephone  trunk  lines, 
trolley  wires,  etc.  Its  great  toughness  makes  it 
valuable  for  boilers,  stills,  sheeting  wooden  ships, 
etc.  It  is  a  component  of  brass,  bronze  and  other 
alloys  used  for  machinery,  cannon,  bells,  coins  and 
statuary.  A  number  of  its  salts,  as  blue  vitriol  and 
Paris  green,  find  extensive  use  in  the  arts. 

Production. — No  copper  is  at  present  refined  in 
Canada,  all  the  ore  mined  being  exported  either  as  raw 
ore  carrying  about  4  per  cent,  of  copper  or  as  a  matte 
carrying  fifteen  or  twenty  per  cent.  In  1894  the  final 
value  of  the  copper  in  the  ore  produced  was  $736,000, 
of  which  Quebec  contributed  $207,000;  Ontario, 
$495,000 ;  British  Columbia,  $34,000.  In  1895  the 
total  value  was  $949,000,  the  increase  being  due 
to  the  copper-gold  mines  of  British  Columbia.  In 
1896  the  output  of  this  province  was  doubled,  and 
the  total  for  the  year  is  a  little  over  a  million.  The 


62  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

imports  of  pig  and  scrap  copper  in  1895  were  valued 
at  $7,000,  and  of  manufactures  at  $252,000.  The 
annual  production  of  copper  in  the  world  is  steadily 
increasing,  the  increase  being  just  about  equal  to  that 
made  by  the  United  States.  The  following  table  is 
compiled  from  Roth  well's  "Mineral  Industry": 

PRODUCTION  OF  COPPER,  1895. 

Metric  Tons,  of  2,204  Ibs. 

Australasia 10,000 

Canada 3,987 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 30,000 

Germany 17,000 

Japan 19,000 

Mexico 12,000 

Russia  5,000 

Spain  and   Portugal 56,000 

United   States 175,000 

All  others 12,000 


Total 340,000 

LITERATURE. — Localities  and  History  of  Operations. — Mari- 
time Provinces:  Da  wson's  "Acadian  Geology."  Quebec:  Geol. 
Sur.  Reports,  1863  ;  III.  1887  K  ;  IV.  1888-89  K  ;  Obalski, 
"Mines  and  Minerals  of  Que.,"  1890.  Ontario:  Lake  Superior 
—"Geol.  Can.,"  1863  ;  Geol.  Sur.  III.  1887,  9-12  H;  "Min.  Re- 
sources of  Ont.,"  1890  ;  Rep.  Bur.  of  Mines,  Ont.,  1893  ;  Bruce 
Mines,  etc.— "Min.  Res.  Ont.,"  1890;  Sudbury— Geol.  Sur. 
Rep.,  V.  1890  F.  (See  also  references  under  Nickel.)  British 
Columbia:  Rep.  Geol.  Sur.  III.,  1887,  101  R,  152  R;  VII. 
1894,  52  S.  Production.— Reports  of  the  Geol.  Sur.  of  each 
year.  Irving,  "The  Copper-bearing  Rocks  of  Lake  Superior." 
Peters,  " Modern  American  Methods  of  Copper  Smelting." 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  63 

SULFUR. 

Sulfur,  from  a  chemical  standpoint,  is  an  acidic 
element,  and  so  in  strictness  should  not  be  classed 
here  under  the  metals.  As,  however,  it  is  mined  in 
Canada  as  a  constituent  of  copper  ores,  this  is  a  con- 
venient place  for  considering  it.  Sulfur  is  found 
native  at  only  a  few  places  in  Canada,  and  never  in 
economic  quantities.  It  does  exist,  however,  in 
immense  quantities  as  sulfids  of  a  number  of  metals. 
Pyrite  (Fe  S2),  the  sulfid  of  iron,  contains  53  per  cent, 
of  sulfur.  It  is  a  brassy- looking  mineral,  hard  enough 
to  strike  fire  with  a  piece  of  steel,  and  is  frequently 
found  in  cubic  crystals.  It  occurs  in  rocks  of  all 
ages,  and  as  it  oxidizes  readily  it  frequently  causes 
undesirable  stains  on  building  stones.  Chalcopyrite 
(Cu  Fe  S2)  is  a  similar  mineral,  but  softer  and  yellower. 
It  contains  35  per  cent,  each  of  copper  and  sulfur. 
These  two  minerals  are  largely  used  as  sources  of 
sulfur  for  sulfuric  acid.  Other  sulfids  occurring  in 
large  quantities  in  Canada  are  galena  (PbS),  the  sul- 
fid of  lead;  blende  (ZnS),  the  sulfid  of  zinc;  pyrrhotite 
(Fe7S8),  another  sulfid  of  iron. 

Uses. — Sulfur  is  required  for  manufacturing  gun- 
powder, matches  and  vulcanized  rubber;  for  bleaching 
straw  and  woollen  goods ;  for  cementing  iron  and 
stone ;  for  making  sulfuric  acid.  This  last  is  one  of 
the  most  important  compounds  known  to  chemistry 
and  commerce.  It  is  said  that  a  nation's  civilization 
may  be  gauged  by  the  amount  of  sulfuric  acid  it 
consumes. 


64  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH  OF   CANADA. 

Although  native  sulfur  is  required  for  most  purposes, 
pyrite  answers  equally  as  well  as  the  element  in 
making  sulfuric  acid.  The  pyrites,  iron  and  copper, 
are  consequently  slowly  driving  the  native  element 
from  the  acid  factories  by  reason  of  their  cheapness. 
Especially  is  this  true  of  ores  like  those  of  Capleton, 
Quebec,  which  are  valuable  for  their  copper  and  silver 
contents,  and  from  which  the  sulfur  must  be  separated 
anyway. 

The  pyrites  are  burned  to  form  sulfur  dioxid  gas, 
and  the  residues  are  treated  with  acids  to  obtain  the 
copper,  silver  or  gold.  Thoroughly  burned  pyrite 
retains  about  1  per  cent,  of  sulfur,  and  iron  contain- 
ing not  more  than  that  can  now  be  used  for  some 
purposes.  Pyrites  suitable  for  sulfuric  acid  should 
have  the  following  characteristics :  (1)  A  high  per 
cent,  of  sulfur,  35  to  53 ;  (2)  freedom  from  arsenic, 
antimony  and  lead;  (3)  readiness  in  yielding  the 
sulfur ;  a  granular  and  porous  pyrite  is  easier  to  work 
than  a  compact  one ;  absence  of  fluxes  is  desirable  ; 
(4)  valuable  accessory  metals,  as  silver,  copper,  gold, 
are  a  great  advantage. 

Production. — The  Capleton  and  Eustis  mines  in 
southern  Quebec  are  the  only  Canadian  producers 
which  use  the  sulfur  in  their  ores.  A  part  is  made 
into  sulfuric  acid  at  the  works ;  a  much  larger  por- 
tion is  shipped  to  the  United  States.  A  third  portion 
is  smelted  at  the  mines,  the  sulfur  being  wasted  and 
the  matte  exported.  These  mines  are  described 
under  Copper,  earlier  in  this  chapter.  Other  sulfuric 
acid  factories  at  Brockville  and  at  Smith's  Falls, 


THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA.  65 

Ontario,  have  also  used  pyrites.  Immense  quantities 
of  sulfur  are  wasted  at  Sudbury.  Nearly  five  million 
pounds  of  sulfuric  acid  are  used  annually  in  refining 

Canadian  petroleum. 

1890.  1895. 

Production  of)  Tons 49,000  34,000 

Pyrites ....  /Value ....  $123,000  $103,000 

Imports  crude\Tons 2,220  2,450 

Sulfur /Value. . . .     $44,000  $57,000 

LITERATURE.  —  "  Min.  Resources  of  Ont.,"  1890.  Rep. 
Geol.  Sur.,  1874,  p.  304  ;  ib.  IV.,  1888,  53  K,  158  K  ;  ib.  VIII., 
1895,  S. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

GOLD    AND    PLATINUM. 
GOLD. 

IN  the  first  half  of  the  present  century  Russia  held 
first  place  as  a  gold  producer.  In  1848  came  the 
discoveries  in  California,  which  soon  sent  the  United 
States  to  the  top.  Three  years  later  rich  deposits 
were  announced  in  Victoria.  In  a  few  years  Australia 
climbed  to  the  foremost  position,  and  the  place  of 
honor  has  alternated  between  that  island  and  the 
United  States  until  recently.  The  South  African 
field,  discovered  in  1884,  has  been  developed  with 
surprising  rapidity.  In  1895  the  Transvaal  succeeded 
in  passing  Australia,  and  if  the  rate  of  advance  is 
continued  it  will  soon  surpass  the  United  States. 

In  1896  announcements  were  made  of  rich  discov- 
eries, which  it  is  hoped  will  make  Canada  a  worthy 
rival  of  California,  Victoria  and  the  Transvaal.  In 
1895  Canada  was  twelfth  among  nations  in  the 
value  of  her  gold  output,  and  it  is  quite  probable 
that  she  may  reach  fifth,  or  sixth,  place  within  a  few 
years.  Mexico,  which  at  present  ranks  fifth,  is  in- 
creasing her  gold  output  very  rapidly.  On  the  same 
Cordilleran  range  as  British  Columbia,  with  enormous 
deposits  of  silver  already  exploited,  Mexico  may 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  67 

prove  as  rich  in  gold  as  Canada.  It  will  be  some 
years  before  either  country  reaches  the  fourth  place 
now  held  by  Russia. 

Origin. — All  substances  can  be  resolved  into  one  or 
more  of  the  seventy  primary  elements.  These  elements, 
of  which  gold  is  one,  cannot  be  changed  into  one 
another,  though  they  combine  in  various  proportions 
to  form  different  substances.  So  far  as  we  know 
they  have  existed  from  the  creation.  On  the  cooling 
of  the  molten  earth  most  of  them  assumed  a  solid 
condition,  either  alone  or  in  combination.  Gold  seems 
to  have  remained  free,  and  pretty  thoroughly  dis- 
tributed through  the  crystalline  rocks.  It  is  found 
now  in  nearly  all  rocks,  and  in  sea  water,  but  in 
such  minute  quantities  that  it  cannot  be  economically 
recovered. 

Nature,  however,  at  once  set  about  concentrating  it 
for  man's  use  when  he  should  appear  in  later  ages. 
Running  water  was  the  agent  employed.  The  ancient 
rocks  were  slowly  disintegrated  and  the  minerals 
floated  off.  Gold,  which  is  seven  times  heavier  than 
quartz,  was  carried  down  the  turbulent  mountain 
streams,  to  be  deposited  with  the  coarser  sands  and 
gravels  at  the  first  eddy  or  level  stretch  of  water, 
whilst  the  lighter  minerals  and  finest  particles  were 
carried  on.  Many  of  these  river  sediments,  perhaps 
reasserted  by  lake  or  ocean  action,  have  been  consoli- 
dated by  pressure  to  form  sandstones  and  conglom- 
erates. Finer  particles  of  gold  were  even  carried 
to  the  sea,  so  that  marine  sediments  also  contain 
disseminated  gold,  though  in  exceedingly  minute 


68  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA. 

amounts.  Subjected  to  pressure  and  heat  these  sedi- 
ments became  the  metamorphic  rocks — slates  and 
schists. 

Meanwhile,  in  another  way,  concentration  was  being 
effected.  Fissures  were  made  in  the  metamorphic,  and 
also  in  the  igneous  rocks.  Hot  solutions  of  quartz, 
carrying  iron  and  copper  sulfids,  leached  the  gold 
from  the  underlying  and  adjacent  rocks  and  placed 
it  in  the  vein  where  the  quartz  and  pyrites  solidified 
around  it.  These  quartz  veins  have  also  been  subjected 
to  denuding  agencies,  and  they  probably  have  fur- 
nished most  of  the  gold  found  in  modern  river 
gravels.  In  still  a  third  way  has  concentration 
been  brought  about.  In  many  copper  and  silver 
mines  gold  is  an  accessory  mineral.  These  deposits 
are  sometimes  of  an  eruptive  origin,  i.e.,  the  mineral 
matter  has  come  from  below  in  a  fluid  condition. 

Occurrence. — Gold  nearly  always  occurs  as  the 
native  element;  its  natural  compounds  are  mineral 
curiosities.  It  alloys  readily  with  silver,  and  is 
nearly  always  found  with  a  small  percentage  of 
that  metal.  Quebec  gold  contains  about  12  per 
cent,  of  silver;  that  of  Nova  Scotia  is  nearly  pure. 
When  in  visible  particles,  gold  is  easily  recognized 
by  its  yellow  color,  malleability,  and  by  the  ease 
with  which  it  may  be  cut  with  a  knife.  Iron  and 
copper  pyrites,  the  former  known  as  "fool's  gold,"  are 
the  only  minerals  which  resemble  it.  Both  are  much 
harder,  both  crumble  under  a  hammer,  both  yield 
fumes  of  sulfur  when  heated  with  a  blowpipe,  and 
both  lack  the  peculiar  lustre  of  gold. 


MINERAL  WEALTH  OP   CANADA.  69 

Dependent  on  the  mode  of  origin,  four  classes  of 
gold  deposits  may  be  noticed  : 

1.  Placers,   in    which    auriferous    gravels   of    the 
Tertiary  and  Quaternary  ages  are  worked.     The  gold 
is  free,  and  may  be  separated  easily  from  the  sand  by 
means  of  mercury.     These  placers   have   been,   and 
probably  still  are,  the  most  important  source  of  gold. 
Their  place  is,  however,  slowly  being  taken  by  the 
next  class. 

2.  The  second  class  of  deposits  are  the  auriferous 
quartz   veins.     They  are   widely   distributed   in   all 
kinds  of  metamorphic  rocks  of   all  geological  ages. 
They  are  more  expensive  to  work  than  the  first,  since 
the   ore   must  be   mined  and   crushed   before  being 
amalgamated.     Two   subdivisions   should    be  noted : 
(a)  That  in  which  the  gold  is  free  in  a  quartz  contain- 
ing little  or  no  sulfids ;  (6)  That  in  which  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  gold  is  in  sulfids  of  iron,  copper, 
lead   or   zinc    in   the  quartz.     This   class,  especially 
division  a,  is  represented  by  the  ores  of  Nova  Scotia 
and  western  Ontario. 

3.  The  ancient  gravel  deposits,  as  illustrated  by 
the  auriferous  sandstone   of   Cambrian  age,  in   the 
Black  Hills,  Dakota.     The  Carboniferous  conglomer- 
ates of  Australia,  and  also  of  Nova  Scotia,  are  other 
examples. 

4.  The   occurrence    of    gold   in   eruptive   deposits 
makes  a  fourth  class.     The  ores  of  the  Rossland  (B.C.) 
region  are  an  example. 

Methods  of  Milling. — The  methods  of  separating 
a  metal  from  its  ore  hardly  find  a  place  in  a  work  of 


70  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA. 

this  kind.  A  brief  explanation  may,  however,  be 
given  for  gold,  and  details  can  be  sought  in  a  work  on 
metallurgy.  Free  gold  is  easily  separated  from  its 
gangue.  In  placer  mining  an  inclined  trough  is 
arranged  near  the  supply  of  gravel.  Across  the 
bottom  are  placed  cleats,  and  over  them  a  stream  of 
sand,  water  and  gold  is  caused  to  flow.  These  cross- 
pieces  in  the  bottom  of  the  sluice  check  the  current, 
and  so  tend  to  hold  the  heavy  gold  which  is  sliding 
along  the  bottom.  Behind  these  cleats  or  riffles 
mercury  is  placed.  This  element  has  a  great  affinity 
for  gold,  and  greedily  grasps  and  dissolves  any 
particle  being  washed  over  it.  At  intervals  the 
amalgam  of  mercury  and  gold  is  placed  in  a  retort, 
and  heated  to  drive  off  the  mercury.  The  gold,  left 
behind  as  a  powder,  is  fused  and  sent  to  the  market 
as  a  "  brick." 

In  quartz  mining  the  first  step  is  the  crushing  of 
the  ore  in  a  stamp  mill.  Iron  weights  or  stamps  of 
eight  hundred  pounds  are  dropped  about  eight  inches, 
about  eighty  times  a  minute,  on  pieces  of  quartz. 
Water  carries  off  through  a  sieve  the  fine  pulp,  which 
then  flows  over  an  inclined  copper  table  covered  with 
mercury.  At  intervals  the  amalgam  is  scraped  off 
and  retorted  as  previously  described. 

Any  gold  held  in  the  sulfids  is  not  attacked  by  the 
mercury,  and  so  passes  over  into  the  tailings  and  is 
lost.  To  prevent  this,  a  mechanical  separation  of  the 
heavy  sulfids  and  light  quartz  is  effected.  A  machine 
known  as  a  vanner  is  largely  used.  A  wide  belt 
constantly  moves  upward  over  an  inclined  table. 


THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA.  7l 

The  stream  of  pulp  is  directed  on  this  belt  which 
carries  up  the  heavy  sulfids  containing  the  gold,  while 
the  water  carries  downwards  the  light  quartz.  In 
this  way  the  "concentrates"  are  saved  for  further 
treatment.  These  concentrates,  and  in  many  mines 
the  whole  ore,  must  be  treated  chemically  to  obtain 
the  gold.  First  they  are  roasted,  or  calcined,  to  free 
them  from  sulfur.  Then  they  are  treated  with  chlorin, 
potassium  cyanid,  or  bromo-cyanogen  to  dissolve  the 
gold,  which  is  afterwards  precipitated. 

Canadian  Localities. — Nova  Scotia — Along  the 
Atlantic  coast  of  Nova  Scotia  there  is  an  extensive 
development  of  Cambrian  strata.  The  rocks,  which 
are  quartzites,  sandstones  and  slates,  are  about  twelve 
thousand  feet  thick,  of  which  the  lower  three-fourths 
are  most  auriferous.  At  many  localities  igneous 
rocks  have  been  erupted,  and  apparently  at  the  same 
time  quartz  veins  were  formed.  The  sedimentary 
strata  were  thrown  into  folds  with  their  axes  running 
east  and  west.  Along  the  denuded  crests  of  these 
folds  quartz  veins  are  found  which  resemble  bedded 
deposits.  These  veins  are  for  the  most  part  narrow, 
most  of  those  worked  being  less  than  a  foot  in  width. 
They  extend  from  a  few  hundred  feet  to  several 
miles  in  length.  The  area  through  which  they  are 
found  is  probably  six  thousand  to  seven  thousand 
square  miles,  though  actual  operations  are  restricted 
to  a  much  smaller  area.  The  ore  is  almost  entirely 
free  milling,  and  has  averaged  $13.70  a  ton  for  the 
province  for  thirty  years.  The  Gold  River  and 
Renfrew  districts  have  the  richest  ores  at  present. 


72  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA. 

The  Stormont  and  Caribou  districts,  working  on  low 
grade  ores,  yield  the  largest  returns.  The  total 
production  to  the  end  of  1894  was  $11,000,000.  The 
Sherbrooke  and  Waverly  districts  have  been  the 
chief  producers.  Nova  Scotia  seems  destined  to 
yield  a  small  but  steady  supply  of  gold.  The  in- 
dustry is  being  extended  to  the  low  grade  ores  which 
exist  in  much  wider  veins,  and  which  are  being  mined 
and  milled  for  $2.50  a  ton,  leaving  all  over  that  for 
profit.  This  is  small  in  comparison  with  Rossland,  B.C., 
where  $15  ore  is  the  least  that  will  pay  at  present. 

Quebec. — Gold  was  accidentally  discovered  in  the 
Gilbert  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Chaudiere,  about 
1823.  For  many  years  it  was  neglected,  and  the  min- 
ing operations  even  of  the  last  fifty  years  have  been 
very  desultory.  The  gold  is  found  in  gravels  which 
constitute  the  beds  of  preglacial  streams.  The  Gilbert, 
Des  Plantes,  DuMoulin,  DuLoup  tributaries  of  the 
Chaudiere  in  Beauce  county  have  been  the  chief  pro- 
ducers. Ditton  Creek  has  also  proved  to  be  rich. 
The  gravels  which  lie  on  bed  rock  are  always  richer 
than  those  above  a  bed  of  clay.  Many  of  these  early 
gravels  are  one  hundred  feet  below  the  level  of  the 
present  streams.  They  are  covered  by  boulder  clay, 
a  product  of  the  glacial  age.  The  gravels  are  always 
richer  when  near  veins  of  quartz  which  intersect  the 
Cambrian  rocks  of  the  district.  These  rocks,  which 
are  slates  and  sandstones,  closely  resemble  the  corre- 
sponding gold-bearing  strata  of  the  same  age  which 
occur  in  Nova  Scotia.  Workable  quartz  veins  have 
not  yet  been  discovered.  The  gold  is  all  derived  from 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  73 

the  placers,  much  of  it  in  a  primitive  way.  Modern 
hydraulic  methods  are  being  applied,  and  the  output, 
which  has  been  small  and  uncertain,  will  doubtless  be 
increased. 

Ontario. — Rich  deposits  of  free  gold  were  discovered 
in  Hastings  county  in  1866.  Prospectors  flocked  in 
and  located  hundreds  of  properties.  Many  companies 
were  formed  and  development  work  begun.  The  first 
returns  were  very  encouraging,  but  at  a  slight  depth 
the  ore  changed  from  a  free-milling  quartz  to  a  refrac- 
tory arsenical  pyrites.  With  the  methods  in  use  the 
gold  passed  over  into  the  tailings  and  was  lost.  No 
successful  means  of  separating  the  gold  could  be 
found,  and  one  after  another  the  mines  were  closed. 
Within  the  last  few  years  renewed  attempts  have 
been  made  with  more  modern  processes,  with  the 
probability  of  final  success.  Besides  these  rich 
arsenical  ores  free-milling  quartz  veins  have  been 
worked  not  only  in  Hastings,  but  in  Peterboro'  and 
in  Addington.  The  Hastings  district  will  likely 
become  a  small  but  steady  producer.  The  veins 
occur  in  Upper  Laurentian  or  Huronian  strata. 

In  the  strip  of  Huronian  rocks  stretching  north- 
eastward from  Lake  Huron  to  Sudbury,  and  on  to 
the  Ottawa  River,  a  number  of  promising  gold  dis- 
coveries have  been  made.  For  the  most  part  the  ore 
is  a  free-milling  quartz  with  a  little  pyrite,  occurring 
in  bedded  deposits.  Two  stamp  mills  have  been 
erected,  but  the  output  is  irregular  as  yet. 

From  Lake  Superior  west  to  Manitoba  prospecting 
has  been  carried  on  vigorously  since  the  opening  of 


74  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

the  railway.  Many  hundred  "prospects"  have  been 
located  and  considerable  development  done.  About  a 
dozen  mines  are  equipped  with  stamp  mills,  several  of 
which  have  passed  the  experimental  stage  and  are 
working  continuously.  The  ore  is  a  free-milling 
quartz,  containing  about  2  per  cent,  of  sulfids.  In 
mill  tests  the  ores  give  from  six  to  thirty  dollars  in 
free  gold,  and  about  one-fifth  more  in  the  concentrates. 
The  veins,  which  are  both  bedded  and  fissure,  occur 
usually  in  Keewatin  (Huronian  ?)  schists,  but  also  in 
the  Laurentian  granite  near  the  contact  of  the  two. 
The  Sultana,  the  best  developed  mine  in  the  district,  is 
right  at  the  contact  of  the  Keewatin  and  Laurentian. 
The  shaft  is  over  350  feet  in  depth,  and  the  vein 
has  a  width,  on  the  third  level,  of  upwards  of  30  feet. 
British  Columbia.  —  After  gleaning  the  surface 
riches  of  California  the  gold  hunters  drifted  north- 
wards. In  1857  came  the  first  authentic  news  of  rich 
finds  on  the  Fraser.  The  next  spring  20,000  people 
reached  Victoria  within  four  months.  The  difficulties 
of  penetrating  the  interior  were,  however,  so  great 
that  the  majority  turned  back.  A  few  thousand 
people  pushed  up  the  Fraser  and  were  richly  rewarded. 
Their  methods  were  crude  in  the  extreme,  and  only 
the  richest  bars  proved  profitable.  Year  by  year 
they  pushed  farther  up  the  main  stream  and  its 
tributaries,  carrying  with  them  all  the  necessaries  of 
life.  In  1860  they  reached  the  Cariboo  district,  one 
of  the  best  placer  mining  camps  ever  found.  The 
following  year  came  the  discovery  of  Williams  and 
Lightning  creeks,  on  which  were  found  the  richest 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  75 

placers  yet  discovered  in  British  Columbia.  In  two 
years  it  is  said  $2,000,000  were  got  out  by  1,500  men. 
The  richness  of  "Golden  Cariboo"  caused  a  large 
immigration  from  all  parts  of  the  world  for  the  next 
few  years.  A  party  started  overland  from  eastern 
Canada,  and  after  many  misfortunes  most  of  them 
reached  their  destination.  Placers  were  next  found 
on  the  Kootenay  and  Columbia.  Northward  from 
Cariboo  the  prospector  forced  his  way  into  the 
Omenica  district.  A  few  years  later  the  advance 
guard  reached  the  Cassiar  district  on  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  province.  In  1880  the  tide,  in  a 
restricted  flow,  had  reached  the  head-waters  of  the 
Yukon  in  the  North-West  Territories. 

These  early  pioneers  skimmed  but  the  surface  of 
the  bars,  i.e.,  the  portions  of  the  river  bed  uncovered 
at  low  water,  and  of  the  terraces  on  the  banks. 
Succeeding  miners  sought  the  equally  rich  deposits 
more  difficult  of  access.  For  instance,  Lightning  Creek 
was  filled  with  glacial  deposits  to  a  depth  of  50  to  1 50 
feet.  As  the  modern  stream  bed  was  rich  there  was 
a  probability  of  the  preglacial  bed  being  the  same. 
Shafts  were  sunk  and  tunnels  run,  and  the  old  channel 
cleared  out  for  a  distance  of  three  miles.  Again, 
auriferous  gravels  on  the  banks  of  streams  are  now 
mined  by  hydraulic  methods  where  the  old  "  rocker  " 
would  not  pay.  Streams  of  water  under  great  pres- 
sure are  directed  against  a  gravel  bed,  and  everything 
washed  down  a  sluiceway  at  very  small  cost.  Riffles 
in  the  sluice  catch  the  gold. 

About  $58,000,000  of  gold  have  so  far  been  taken 


76  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

from  the  placers  of  British  Columbia,  principally 
from  river  bars.  Many  millions  are  yet  to  be  obtained 
by  hydraulic  methods  from  the  terrace  deposits  of  the 
Fraser  and  other  streams.  Even  the  beds  of  the 
rivers  may  be  successfully  exploited  by  dredges  or 
by  dams.  There  is  scarcely  a  stream  of  importance 
in  British  Columbia  in  which  "  colors  "  of  gold  cannot 
be  found.  The  richest  areas  are,  however,  in  the 
parallel  and  partly  overlapping  ranges  collectively 
known  as  the  Gold  Range.  This  range  includes  the 
Purcell,  Selkirk,  Columbia  or  Gold,  Cariboo,  Omenica 
and  Cassiar  Mountains.  It  lies  parallel  with  the 
Rocky  Mountain  range  to  the  south-west.  It  will 
probably  prove  the  most  important  metalliferous  belt 
of  British  Columbia.  The  Vancouver  range  is  also 
very  promising. 

Since  1863,  when  they  yielded  nearly  $4,000,000, 
the  placers  have  been  steadily  decreasing  in  value. 
In  1893  the  product  was  only  $380,000;  but  in  1896 
it  rose  to  $544,000.  Attention  was  for  this  reason 
directed  to  the  quartz  veins  from  which  the  gold  was 
derived.  The  province  is  passing  through  the  experi- 
ence of  California  and  Australia,  where  the  miners 
began  on  placers  but  are  now  working  the  veins.  The 
most  important  mines  and  "  prospects  "  are  in  the 
Trail  Creek  division  of  the  West  Kootenay  district  and 
in  the  Kettle  River  and  Osooyos  divisions  of  the  Yale 
district.  In  some  camps  of  the  last  named  the  ore  is  a 
free-milling  quartz.  In  the  Trail  Creek  division  nearly 
all  the  ore  is  refractory.  The  three  divisions  lie  side 
by  side  along  the  northern  boundary  of  Washington 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  77 

state,  and  are  much  alike  in  the  character  of  their  ore. 
Greater  development  has  taken  place  in  Trail  Creek 
owing  to  accessibility.  The  typical  ore  of  Rossland 
is  either  a  "  nearly  massive  fine-grained  pyrrhotite  and 
copper  pyrites,  with  more  or  less  quartz  and  calcite," 
or  a  poorer  ore  consisting  of  diorite  with  a  compara- 
tively small  percentage  of  the  sulfids.  The  ore 
resembles  that  which  carries  nickel  at  Sudbury. 
Average  smelter  returns  of  the  Le  Roi  mine  are  for 
first  class  ore  $53;  for  second,  $28.  This  includes 
the  silver  and  copper  values.  Immense  bodies  of  low 
grade  ores  are  found,  and  the  successful  treatment  of 
these  will  depend  on  a  cheapening  of  the  smelting 
process.  The  production  of  the  division  has  increased 
with  enormous  rapidity,  and  everything  points  to 
Kootenay  as  an  enduring  and  profitable  mining 
district.  Quartz  veins  will  in  time  be  worked  in 
Cariboo  to  the  north,  but  at  present  that  district 
depends  on  its  placers.  T'he  district  of  Alberni  on 
Vancouver  Island  may  also  prove  rich  in  quartz 
deposits.  With  the  advent  of  more  modern  methods 
of  working  the  placers,  and  with  the  new  develop- 
ments in  vein  mining  the  output  of  gold  from  British 
Columbia  is  bound  to  increase  enormously. 

Other  Placers. — Far  to  the  north,  on  the  Yukon 
and  its  tributaries,  miners  are  washing  the  sands  by 
the  old  methods  and  are  reaping  an  enormous  har- 
vest. On  the  Saskatchewan  also,  near  Edmonton, 
similar  work  is  in  progress.  It  is  of  interest  to  note 
that  here  the  immediate  source  of  the  gold  is  the 
Cretaceous  sediments  of  the  Edmonton  series.  These 


78 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 


sandstones  were   probably  derived   from   the  Coast 
Range  of  British  Columbia. 

The  following  tables  are  self-explanatory: 


GOLD  PRODUCTION  OF  CANADA. 


PROVINCE. 

1893. 

1894. 

1895. 

1896. 

Nova  Scotia  

$381,095 

$377,169 

$  406,765 

Quebec 

15,696 

29,196 

1,282 

Ontario  
Alberta  and  Yukon. 
British  Columbia.  .  . 

14,637 
185,640 
379,535 

39,624 
140,000 
456,066 

62,320 
150,002 
1,290,531 

$1,022,000 
1,788,206 

Total 

$976  603 

$1,042,055 

$1,910  900 

$2,810,206 

GOLD  PRODUCTION  OF  THE  WORLD,  1895. 

1.  United  States $46,800,000 

2.  Transvaal 43,000,000 

3.  Australasia 42,800,000 

4.  Russia 34,000,000 

5.  Mexico 5,600,000 

6.  China 4,700,000 

7.  India 4,500,000 

8.  Colombia 3,200,000 

9.  Germany 2,900,000 

10.  Brazil    2,200,000 

11.  British  Guiana    2,200,000 

12.  Canada 1,900,000 

13.  Austria 1,800,000 

14.  French  Guiana    1,600,000 

All  others 6,243,772 


$203,443,772 

—RothweU's  "Mineral  Industry." 


THE   MINERAL   WEALT^fi^fiBfltr  79 


LITERATUHE.  —  General  :  Phillips  and  Louis  '  '  Ore  Deposits  ;  " 
Rep  S  of  the  Geol.  Sur.  for  each  year  ;  Can.  Mining  Manual,  1896. 
Nova  Scotia  :  Annual  reports  of  Dep.  of  Mines  ;  Trans.  Am.  Inst. 
Min.  Eng.  XIV.;  Trans.  Min.  Soc.,  Nova  Scotia,  1894-95;  Bibli- 
ography 158  P  Geol.  Sur.  II.  1886.  Quebec  :  Rep.  K.  Geol. 
Sur.  IV.  1888.  Ontario  :  Geol.  Sur.  1871  ;  Min.  Resources  of 
Ontario,  1890;  Bur.  Mines  Rep.  1893,  '94,  '95/96.  British 
Columbia  :  A  brief  history  of  the  placer  mining,  a  list  of  locali- 
ties, references  to  literature  are  given  in  Rep.  R  Geol.  Sur. 
1887-88  ;  ancient  placer  deposits  and  conditions  of  occurrence 
of  recent  ones,  310-329  B.  Geol.  Sur.  VII.  1894.  Bulletin 
No.  2  on  Trail  Creek  in  Rep.  Min.  of  Mines,  British  Columbia, 
1896. 

PLATINUM. 

Platinum  is  a  silver-white  metal,  nearly  always 
found  alloyed  with  iron,  rhodium,  iridium  and 
osmium.  It  is  found  as  black  grains  in  many  gold 
placers.  From  magnetite  it  may  be  distinguished  by 
its  high  specific  gravity  and  its  malleability.  Like 
magnetite  it  is  often  magnetic.  Its  use  in  the  arts 
depends  on  its  great  resistance  to  heat  and  to  chemi- 
cal reagents.  Made  into  pans  it  is  used  in  the  concen- 
tration of  sulfuric  acid.  In  chemical  laboratories  it  is 
used  as  crucibles,  tongs,  in  galvanic  batteries,  etc.  It 
is  extensively  used  as  a  conductor  of  electricity  in 
incandescent  bulbs.  It  finds  further  employment  in 
dentistry  and  in  photography.  Indeed,  a  substance 
so  indestructible  is  only  limited  in  use  because  of  the 
high  price. 

Placer  deposits  of  the  Urals  furnish  most  of  the 
supply.  Smaller  amounts  come  from  Colombia,  Ore- 
gon and  British  Columbia.  In  1891,  the  last-named 
furnished  $10,000,  but  that  amount  has  dwindled  to 


80  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

$3,800  in  1895.  It  was  furnished  by  the  streams  of 
the  Similikameen  district.  It  is  also  found  on  the 
Fraser,  Tranquille,  Yukon.  Saskatchewan  and  Chau- 
diere,  associated  with  the  gold.  As  it  does  not  alloy 
with  mercury  it  is  usually  unnoticed.  No  doubt  it 
could  be  found  in  many  places  in  paying  quantities. 
It  seems  to  be  connected  in  origin  with  masses  of 
chromite  and  serpentine,  and  these  again  are  associ- 
ated with  eruptive  diorites. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SILVER,  LEAD  AND  ZINC. 

Ores  of  Silver. — Silver,  lead  and  zinc  are  frequently 
associated  in  nature,  and  so  they  are  best  treated 
together.  Silver  is  found  native  in  many  regions  in 
small  amounts.  It  is  easily  known  by  its  pure  white 
color,  though  it  may  have  a  dark  tarnish.  More 
commonly  it  is  found  in  combination  with  other  ele- 
ments. With  sulfur  it  forms  argentite,  blackish 
lead-grey  in  color,  soft  and  malleable.  With  sulfur 
and  antimony  silver  forms  stephanite,  iron-black  in 
color,  and  pyrargyrite,  dark  red  to  black.  Proustite 
is  the  corresponding  arsenic  compound,  light  red  in 
color.  All  of  these  minerals  are  soluble  in  nitric  acid, 
and  yield  a  white  precipitate  on  the  addition  of  a 
solution  of  salt.  Cerargyrite,  or  horn  silver,  is  the 
naturally  occurring  chlorid.  It  is  greyish-green  in 
color,  and  looks  like  wax  or  horn.  Silver  always 
accompanies  galena,  the  sulfid  of  lead,  varying  from  a 
few  thousandths  of  a  per  cent,  to  1  per  cent.  With 
the  larger  amounts  the  mineral  becomes  an  ore  of 
silver.  In  a  similiar  way  tetrahedrite,  or  grey  copper 
ore,  often  carries  enough  silver  to  be  of  value  as  a 
source  of  that  metal  as  well  as  of  the  copper.  Still 


82  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

another  source  of  silver  is  as  an  alloy  with  gold,  most 
placer  gold  containing  several  per  cent,  of  the  white 
metal. 

These  silver  minerals  are  rarely  found  in  any 
amounts,  but  more  commonly  as  strings  and  thin 
seams  disseminated  through  a  large  bulk  of  gangue, 
mostly  quartz  or  calcite.  An  ore  mass  yielding  $100 
to  the  ton  is  considered  a  rich  deposit,  and  yet  this  is 
equal  to  only  one-half  of  1  per  cent,  of  silver.  It  thus 
often  happens  that  the  silver  minerals  are  in  such 
small  particles  that  they  cannot  be  readily  determined. 

The  greater  part  of  the  silver  of  the  world  is 
obtained  as  a  by-product  in  the  mining  of  other  min- 
erals. This  is  especially  true  of  Europe  and  North 
America.  Lead  is  the  most  common  associated  metal, 
though  copper  and  zinc  occur  very  frequently.  In 
hundreds  of  mines  operations  would  not  pay  were 
silver  the  only  metal  to  be  won. 

Occurrence. — Silver  ores  occur  in  most  of  the 
classes  of  deposits  tabulated  in  a  preceding  chapter. 
True  fissure  veins  are  perhaps  most  common,  though 
bedded  and  contact  veins  are  often  found.  These 
veins  cut  eruptive  granite  and  Archaean  schists  in  the 
Slocan  district  of  British  Columbia,  and  are  found  in 
sedimentary  argillites  of  Lower  Cambrian  age  in 
Ontario.  Many  of  the  most  famous  veins  are  incased 
in  volcanic  rocks  of  Tertiary  age.  The  Comstock  lode 
of  Nevada  which  has  yielded  $325,000,000,  occurs  at 
the  contact  of  two  igneous  rocks,  and  was  evidently 
filled  in  very  recent  times  by  solutions  from  below. 
Associated  with  lead,  silver  occurs  in  mass  deposits  in 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  83 

many  parts  of  western  America.  The  Cordilleras  and 
the  Andes,  the  backbones  of  the  two  Americas,  are 
the  great  repositories  of  silver  ores.  Five-sevenths  of 
the  world's  output  comes  from  these  regions. 

Canadian  Localities. — Argentiferous  galena  is  re- 
ported from  a  number  of  places  in  Quebec,  but  apart 
from  prospecting  no  mining  operations  have  been 
undertaken.  In  Beauce  and  Compton  counties  quartz 
veins  carrying  galena  are  found  cutting  Lower  Cam- 
brian slates.  This  galena  is  frequently  rich  in  silver. 
A  large  deposit  of  silver-lead  occurs  on  the  east  side 
of  Lake  Temiscamingue.  The  copper  ores  of  the 
Ascot  belt  usually  carry  silver  up  to  ten  ounces  a  ton. 
The  average  obtained  from  the  Capleton  pyrite  mines 
is  three  to  four  ounces  a  ton,  and  this  is  the  source  of 
the  present  output  of  Quebec.  (See  Chapter  V.) 

In  Ontario,  at  the  west  end  of  Lake  Superior,  there 
is  a  triangular  area  of  Animikie  rocks  of  Lower  Cam- 
brian age.  These  rocks  are  argillites  and  cherts,  with 
intrusive  sills  of  basic  rocks  which  frequently  appear 
as  a  capping  of  the  precipitous  hills.  Associated  with 
these  trap-flows  and  their  accompanying  dikes  are 
veins  carrying  silver  ores.  The  gangue  material  is 
quartz,  barite,  calcite  or  fluorite,  and  blende,  galena 
and  pyrite  are  irregularly  distributed  in  it.  The 
silver  occurs  as  argentite  or  as  native  silver,  usually 
with  the  blende. 

The  most  famous  mine  of  the  district  is  that  of 
Silver  Islet,  discovered  in  1868,  from  which  some 
$3,250,000  were  taken.  The  original  islet,  only  90 
feet  in  diameter,  lies  near  Thunder  Cape  in  Lake 


84  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

Superior.  It  owed  its  existence  to  a  hard  dike  of 
quartz  diabase  over  200  feet  in  width,  which  resisted 
erosion.  This  was  crossed  by  a  vein  striking  N.  W., 
which  was  thought  to  be  traced  to  and  on  the  main- 
land for  about  9,000  feet.  Where  the  vein  crossed 
the  island  dike  it  was  enormously  rich,  but  in  the 
argillites  and  where  it  crossed  twenty  other  dikes,  no 
paying  ore  could  be  found.  The  shaft  was  sunk  1,250 
feet,  and  several  bonanzas  struck,  with  much  barren 
rock  between.  The  mine  has  been  flooded  since  1884, 
and  it  is  doubtful  whether  it  could  be  successfully 
operated  again,  though  it  is  probable  that  similar  ore 
bunches  exist  at  greater  depths.  Many  other  proper- 
ties in  the  district  have  been  worked,  but  none 
approach  this  one  in  magnitude.  The  fall  in  the 
price  of  silver  in  1892  caused  the  cessation  of  silver- 
mining  in  the  Thunder  Bay  district.  Argentiferous 
galena  has  been  mined  at  Garden  River,  north  of 
Lake  Huron,  and  promising  prospects  are  known  in 
Hastings  and  Frontenac  counties,  and  around  Lakes 
Temagami  and  Temiscamingue. 

British  Columbia  is  the  silver-producing  province 
of  the  Dominion.  From  ten  to  twenty-five  per  cent, 
of  the  placer  gold  is  said  to  be  silver,  but  the  value  of 
it  is  accredited  to  gold  in  the  tables  published. 
Notwithstanding  this  the  output  of  silver  surpasses 
that  of  gold.  Kootenay  is  the  only  producing  district, 
the  Ainsworth,  Nelson  and  Slocan  divisions  being  the 
chief  regions,  and  smaller  amounts  coming  from  Trail 
Creek  and  East  Kootenay.  The  Slocan  is  the  most 
productive  mining  district  in  the  province,  its  pre- 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  85 

eminence  being  due  to  its  silver-lead  ore.  Many  of 
the  veins  are  narrow,  varying  from  two  inches  to 
twenty  in  width.  Much  of  the  ore  is,  however,  very 
rich,  and  only  this  has  made  possible  the  opening  and 
developing  of  properties  so  far  removed  from  supplies 
in  the  face  of  a  great  fall  in  the  value  of  silver.  The 
average  return  on  18,000  tons  of  ore  mined  in  the 
Slocan  in  1896  was  117  ounces  of  silver  and  53  per 
cent,  of  lead. 

The  chief  ore  is  argentiferous  galena,  with  some 
zinc  blende  and  grey  copper  in  a  gangue  of  quartz 
and  spathic  iron.  The  veins  cut  across  lower  Palae- 
ozoic stratified  rocks,  and  through  eruptive  dikes. 
They  are  also  found  in  an  extensive  area  of  eruptive 
granite.  Veins  containing  argentiferous  tetrahedrite, 
or  grey  copper,  are  also  found.  Veins  carrying  argen- 
tite  with  native  silver  and  gold  in  a  quartz  gangue 
are  found  in  some  granite  areas.  At  the  Hall's  mines, 
in  Nelson,  the  ore  is  a  mixture  of  copper  sulfids  carry- 
ing silver.  Smelters  are  at  work  at  Nelson,  Trail  and 
Pilot  Bay,  but  much  of  the  ore  is  exported  to  the 
United  States  for  treatment.  The  production  is 
increasing  rapidly,  and  with  cheaper  supplies  many 
lower  grade  ores  can  be  successfully  worked.  While 
only  a  small  district  is  at  present  being  developed, 
the  argentiferous  region  extends  1,200  miles  to  the 
north. 

Use  and  Production. — The  use  of  silver  is  deter- 
mined by  its  beauty,  its  comparative  rarity,  and  by 
its  resistance  to  the  ordinary  processes  of  change  or 
destruction.  Accordingly  it  finds  employment  in 


86 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 


articles  of  luxury  and  ornament,  and  as  a  medium  of 
exchange.  For  these  purposes  its  hardness  and  dura- 
bility are  increased  by  the  addition  of  seven  and  a 
half  to  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  copper.  Owing  to 
the  greatly  increased  production  of  recent  years  and 
to  the  ease  with  which  it  may  be  won,  the  market 
price  of  crude  silver  has  fallen  greatly.  The  United 
States  coining  value  is  at  the  rate  of  $1.293  an  ounce, 
while  the  average  market  value  in  1895  was  only  65 
cents.  An  ounce  of  gold  makes  $20.67,  so  that  at 
American  coinage  rates  an  ounce  of  gold  is  worth  only 
sixteen  of  coin  silver,  but  would  purchase  thirty -two 
on  the  market.  In  the  following  tables  it  is  observ- 
able how  the  fall  in  the  price  of  silver  affected  the 
production  in  Ontario.  The  annual  production  of  the 
world  is  steadily  increasing,  although  the  total  value 
is  not  so  high  as  in  1890-93.  Canada,  which  now 
ranks  eleventh,  will  probably  reach  seventh  place  in 
the  near  future. 

CANADIAN  PRODUCTION. 




1891. 

1894. 

1895. 

1896. 

Quebec    

$182  000 

$64,000 

$53,000 

$47,000 

Ontario   

221,000 

British  Columbia 

3,000 

470,000 

1,105,000 

2,101,000 

Total           .  .    . 

$406  000 

$534  000 

$1,158000 

$2  148  000 

Value  per  oz  .  .  . 

0.98 

0.63 

0.65 

0.67 

THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  87 

SILVER  PRODUCTION  OF  THE  WORLD,  1895. 

1.  Mexico $33,225,000 

2.  United  States 30,254,000 

3.  Bolivia 13,500,000 

4.  Australasia 13,039,000 

5.  Germany 9,236,000 

6.  Spain 4,849,000 

7.  Peru 2,514,000 

8.  France 2,026,000 

9.  Chili 1,910,000 

10.  Austria 1,186,000 

11.  Canada 1,158,000 

12.  Japan 1,154,000 

13.  Italy 1,154,000 

14.  Colombia 1,123,000 

15.  Central  America 1,049,000 

All  others..  1,371,536 


Total $118,748,546 

LITERATURE. — Canadian  Mining  Manual,  1896.  Quebec  : 
Geol.  Sur.  IV.  1888  K.  Ontario  :  Geol.  Sur.  III.  1887  H  ; 
Min.  Res.  Ont.,  1890.  British  Columbia :  Geol.  Sur.  III. 
1887-88  R,  IV.  1888-89  B:  Rep.  Min.  of  Mines,  B.C.,  1896, 
and  Bull.  No.  3. 


LEAD. 

By  far  the  most  important  source  of  lead  is  the 
sulfid  galenite  (PbS),  which  frequently  bears  eco- 
nomic amounts  of  silver.  It  occurs  either  in  granular 
or  cubical  crystals  of  a  lead-grey  color  and  brilliant 
metallic  lustre.  Cerussite,  the  carbonate  (PbCO3), 
containing  77  per  cent,  of  lead,  is  white  or  grey  in 
color,  and  of  high  specific  gravity.  Both  minerals 


88  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

easily  yield  a  malleable  bead  of  lead  before  the 
blowpipe.  The  sulfate,  anglesite  (PbS04),  also  occurs, 
generally  as  a  surface  product  of  galena. 

The  ores  of  lead  occur  chiefly  as  mass  deposits 
filling  joints  and  irregular  cavities  in  limestone.  The 
lead  has  apparently  been  deposited  with  the  sedi- 
ments, and  afterwards  been  brought  in  solution  from 
the  neighboring  rocks  into  the  cavities.  Of  this 
character  are  the  deposits  of  Missouri,  Iowa  and 
Wisconsin.  In  Nevada  the  ore  is  frequently  found  at 
the  contact  of  limestone  with  some  dissimilar  rock. 
In  the  gash  veins  of  the  limestone  zinc  is  frequently 
found  with  the  lead,  sometimes  one,  sometimes  the 
other,  predominating,  and  silver  being  generally 
absent.  A  second  occurrence  of  galena  is  in  veins 
cutting  ancient  crystalline  formations,  as  in  British 
Columbia.  These  ores  are  more  frequently  silver- 
bearing,  and  that  they  are  largely  mined  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  three-fourths  of  the  lead  produced  in 
the  United  States  is  desilverized. 

The  great  use  of  lead  is  in  the  manufacture  of 
paint.  Five-twelfths  of  the  consumption  of  the 
United  States  in  1895  was  used  in  the  manufacture 
of  white-lead.  A  considerable  amount  was  also  con- 
verted into  litharge.  Other  uses  are  as  leadpipe,  shot, 
sheet  lead,  and  in  certain  kinds  of  glass.  Its  alloys 
with  tin,  bismuth,  antimony,  are  used  as  pewter,  type 
and  solder. 

Spain,  the  United  States,  Germany  and  Mexico 
are  the  largest  producers,  and  the  United  States, 
Great  Britain  and  Germany  the  largest  consumers 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  89 

The  total  production  of  the  world  in  1894  was 
617,000  metric  tons,  valued  at  three  and  a  quarter 
cents  a  pound. 

Canadian  Localities  and  Production. — Galena 
occurs  at  a  number  of  places  in  Nova  Scotia  in 
connection  with  Carboniferous  limestone.  At  Smith- 
field,  Colchester  county,  considerable  development 
has  been  done  on  a  large  argentiferous  deposit,  and 
in  Gloucester  and  Carleton  counties,  New  Brunswick, 
some  exploratory  work  was  performed.  In  Quebec  a 
very  promising  property  of  silver-lead  has  been 
developed  on  Lake  Temiscamingue,  and  a  few  tons  of 
argentiferous  galena  have  been  mined  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Little  Whale  River,  on  the  east  coast  of 
Hudson  Bay.  In  Ontario  silver-lead  ores  have  been 
worked  in  Frontenac  and  neighboring  counties, 
at  Garden  River,  north  of  Lake  Huron,  and  south  of 
Lake  Nipigon.  These  ores  occur  in  veins,  cutting 
Archaean  schists  or  Cambrian  argillites.  In  none  of 
them  were  the  silver  contents  high  enough  to  make 
the  properties  successful  at  the  present  low  value  of 
lead.  In  British  Columbia  there  are  many  deposits 
of  galena  rich  in  silver,  and  it  is  to  that  province 
that  nearly  the  whole  output  of  the  Dominion  is  to 
be  credited.  The  producing  mines  are  in  the  Koote- 
nay  district,  but  many  other  promising  localities  are 
known. 


90  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

PRODUCTION  AND  IMPORTS. 


1890. 

1894. 

1895. 

1896. 

Pounds  of  ore    

113,000 

5,703,000 

23,076,000 

24,200,000 

Value 

$5  800 

$185,000 

$750,000 

$721,000 

Imports 
unmanufactured  .  . 
Imports  manufactured 

343,000 
26,000 

170,000 
29,000 

156,000 
38,000 

LITERATURE.  — (See  under  Silver. )  For  British  Columbia  local- 
ities, see  Geol.  Sur.  III.  1887-88,  155  R.  Lake  Temiscamingue : 
Geol.  Sur.  V.  1890-91,  90  S. 


ZINC. 

The  most  common  zinc  mineral  is  popularly  known 
as  blende  or  black  jack,  though  mineralogists  call  it 
sphalerite.  The  first  and  last  names  refer  to  its  blind- 
ing and  deceiving  or  treacherous  character,  because, 
while  at  times  resembling  galena,  it  yields  no  lead, 
and  because  it  occurs  in  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow. 
It  has  a  peculiar  resinous  lustre,  is  scratched  without 
difficulty  with  a  knife,  and  is  infusible  before  a  blow- 
pipe. In  composition  it  is  zinc  sulfid,  and  when  pure 
it  contains  67  per  cent,  of  zinc.  The  carbonate,  smith- 
sonite,  results  from  the  weathering  of  the  sulfid,  and 
is  dirty  white  or  brownish.  Calamine,  a  silicate,  is 
another  zinc  mineral  often  mined. 

The  ores  of  zinc  closely  resemble  those  of  lead 
in  their  mode  of  occurrence  and  in  their  geological 
horizons,  and  often  the  two  are  intimately  mixed. 
Blende,  like  galena,  often  carries  silver,  but  it  is  more 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  91 

difficult  to  part  the  silver  and  zinc  than  the  silver  and 
lead.  Argentiferous  blende  occurs  in  the  Thunder  Bay 
district  of  Ontario  and  in  the  Kootenay  district  of 
British  Columbia,  but  there  is  no  production.  A 
deposit  of  blende  in  Huronian  diorite,  north  of  Lake 
Superior,  was  exploited  for  a  time,  but  operations 
have  ceased.  Kansas,  Wisconsin,  Missouri  and  New 
Jersey  are  the  zinc-producing  regions  of  this  conti- 
nent. Two-thirds  of  the  ore  of  the  world  is  mined 
in  Germany ;  Italy  is  the  second  producer,  followed 
by  the  United  States  and  France.  All  of  the  Italian 
ore  is  exported,  and  Belgium,  using  imported  ores, 
ranks  second  as  a  producer  of  metallic  zinc,  Ger- 
many having  the  first  position.  The  total  production 
of  the  world  for  1894  was  383,225  metric  tons,  of 
which  Canada  took  $130,000  worth,  mostly  manu- 
factured. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

ARSENIC,   ANTIMONY,.  TIN,   ALUMINUM  AND 
MERCURY. 

Arsenic. — This  element  is  little  used  in  the  metallic 
state,  and  then  only  as  an  alloy,  the  chief  of  which  is 
with  lead.  Shot  is  hardened  by  the  mixture  of  about 
forty  pounds  of  arsenic  with  a  ton  of  lead.  Its  most 
important  use  is  in  the  manufacture  of  colors,  particu- 
larly greens.  Paris  green  is  a  commercial  name  for 
several  chemical  compounds  used  as  colors,  and  also 
as  insecticides.  A  small  amount  of  the  metal  is  used 
in  making  certain  kinds  of  glass  and  in  fireworks. 

Arsenic  is  widely  distributed  in  nature,  occurring 
usually  as  a  double  sulfid  and  arsenid  of  iron,  nickel 
or  copper.  Mispickel,  or  arsenopyrite  (FeAsS)  the 
chief  mineral,  is  hard,  brittle,  silver- white,  and  gives 
a  garlic  odor  when  heated.  Considerable  deposits  of 
it  occur  in  Hastings  county,  Ontario,  where  it  has 
been  mined  for  the  gold  it  contains.  The  output  is, 
however,  very  irregular,  in  1885  the  product  being 
valued  at  over  $17,000,  and  in  1895  at  nothing. 
Commercial  arsenic  has  sold  for  some  years  at  about 
four  cents  a  pound,  but  in  1895  the  price  advanced  to 
nine  cents,  and  even  at  that  figure  it  does  not  pay  to 
produce  the  metal,  except  as  a  by-product.  Cornwall 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  93 

and  Devon,  England,  and  Freiberg,  Germany,  supply 
the  market  with  7,000  to  9,000  tons  a  year.  Canada 
imported  in  1895  nearly  600  tons,  valued  at  $32,000. 

Antimony. — This  metal  frequently  occurs  as  a  min- 
eralizing agent  with  ores  of  silver.  The  chief  source 
is,  however,  the  sulfid  stibnite  (Sb2S3),  a  soft  lead-grey 
easily  fusible  mineral.  It  is  recognized  by  the  white 
fumes  and  odor  of  burning  sulfur  which  it  gives  when 
heated  with  a  blowpipe. 

Stibnite  has  been  mined  at  Rawdon,  in  Hants 
county,  N.S.,  where  in  a  gangue  of  quartz  and  calcite 
it  occurs  in  a  vein  cutting  Cambrian  slates.  The  ore 
is  of  good  quality,  and  in  places  is  auriferous.  At 
Prince  William,  York  county,  N.B.,  there  are  numer- 
ous large  well-defined  veins  carrying  quartz  and  stib- 
nite in  Cambro-Silurian  slates.  Several  mining  com- 
panies have  operated  there,  reducing  the  ore  in  part 
and  shipping  the  remainder  to  Massachusetts,  where 
it  was  used  in  the  manufacture  of  rubber.  Ores  of 
antimony  have  also  been  mined  in  South  Ham,  Wolfe 
county,  Que.  None  of  these  properties  are  now  in 
operation,  litigation  and  the  continually  decreasing 
value  of  the  product  having  forced  them  to  close. 
Antimony,  which  was  worth  fifteen  cents  a  pound  in 
1891,  was  quoted  at  seven  cents  in  1895.  Antimony 
ores,  probably  in  economic  amounts,  are  reported  from 
several  localities  in  Ontario  and  British  Columbia.  In 
the  latter  province  they  are  frequently  argentiferous. 

France  is  the  largest  producer  of  antimony,  and 
Italy,  Japan  and  New  South  Wales  contend  for  second 
place.  In  1893  the  total  production  of  ore  was 
7 


94  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

15,000  tons,  which  would  yield  about  6,009  tons  of 
antimony.  In  1885  the  Canadian  product  was  758 
tons  ;  in  1895  it  was  nothing.  The  imports  in  1895 
were  forty  tons,  valued  at  $6,000.  The  great  use  of 
antimony  is  as  an  alloy  with  lead  in  making  type 
metal. 

Tin. — This  is  the  only  important  metal  of  which 
no  economic  deposits  occur  in  Canada,  for,  apart 
from  a  few  mineralogical  curiosities,  it  is  unknown 
here.  North  America  as  a  continent  seems  almost 
destitute  of  it,  for  in  spite  of  very  heavy  protective 
duties  the  Americans  have  failed  to  develop  any  suc- 
cessful mines,  though  small  amounts  have  been  got  in 
Dakota,  California  and  Mexico. 

The  oxid  of  tin,  cassiterite,  is  the  only  ore.  The 
mineral  is  brown  to  black  in  color,  of  brilliant  lustre 
when  in  crystals,  hard  and  heavy.  It  is  infusible 
before  the  blowpipe  on  charcoal,  but  with  soda  can  be 
reduced  to  minute  malleable  beads  of  tin.  Tin  ore 
occurs  in  two  ways :  First  and  most  important  is 
the  "  stream  tin,"  which  is  simply  a  placer  deposit  like 
that  of  gold,  and  due  to  the  same  cause,  i.e.,  to  the 
weight  of  the  mineral.  These  placer  deposits  are 
widely  scattered  over  the  world,  but  are  comparatively 
rare.  They  are  derived,  of  course,  from  veins  which 
constitute  the  second  class  of  deposits.  Here  the  ore 
is  disseminated  in  bunches  and  grains  in  the  veins  and 
in  the  ancient  crystalline  rocks,  which  they  cut. 
Cornwall,  England,  is  the  most  famous  tin  region  of 
the  world,  though  the  original  placers  are  exhausted 
and  the  veins  themselves  are  not  so  productive  as 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  95 

formerly.  The  ore  is  frequently  found  in  a  peculiar 
granite  rock  called  greisen,  which  lacks  felspar. 
Pyrite,  chalcopyrite,  blende,  tourmaline,  wolfram, 
topaz  are  often  associated  with  the  tin  ore.  Consider- 
ing the  immense  granite  areas  in  Canada,  it  would 
seem  probable  that  tin  will  yet  be  discovered  here. 

The  great  use  of  tin  is  as  a  coating  for  iron  in  the 
manufacture  of  tin-plate.  Small  amounts  are  used  in 
alloys,  such  as  bronze,  bell-metal  and  solder.  In  1895 
the  production  was  about  80,000  long  tons,  of  which 
63,000  came  from  the  Malay  peninsula,  and  England, 
Tasmania  and  Bolivia  produced  nearly  all  the  remain- 
der. In  1895  the  average  price  was  fourteen  cents  a 
pound.  Canadian  imports  average  over  one  million 
dollars  a  year. 

Aluminum  is  the  most  abundant  metal  in  the  earth's 
crust,  and  the  third  element  in  amount.  It  is  found 
in  hundreds  of  minerals,  chiefly  complex  silicates  like 
garnet,  felspar  and  mica.  Ordinary  clay  is  a  hydrous 
silicate  of  aluminum  which,  when  pure,  contains  21 
per  cent,  of  the  metal.  Notwithstanding  the  great 
number  of  minerals  and  their  wide  distribution,  the 
ores  of  aluminum  are  very  few.  In  most  cases  the 
chemical  combination  is  too  strong  for  profitable 
separation  with  our  present  methods.  Corundum, 
the  oxid,  might  be  used,  but  it  is  too  valuable  as  an 
abrasive  to  be  employed  as  a  source  of  the  metal. 
Cryolite,  a  sodium  aluminum  fluorid,  was  until 
recently  the  chief  source,  the  mineral  being  brought 
from  Greenland.  Bauxite,  the  mineral  used  at  the 
present  time,  is  a  hydrated  oxid  of  aluminum  with 


.96  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

iron  replacing  part  of  that  metal.  Silica,  phosphoric 
acid,  lime,  and  magnesia,  are  common  impurities.  In 
composition  and  mode  of  occurrence  it  resembles 
limonite.  The  mineral  is  white,  yellow  or  red,  soft 
and  granular.  It  occurs  in  large  amounts  in  France, 
Italy,  Ireland,  Georgia  and  Alabama,  but  is  not  yet 
known  in  Canada. 

Bauxite  is  treated  chemically  and  changed  into  the 
oxid  of  the  metal  (A1203),  and  this  is  reduced  by  a 
powerful  electric  current  in  a  bath  of  molten  cryolite. 
Only  two  companies  are  at  present  producers.  One 
has  works  at  Niagara  Falls  and  Pittsburg,  the  other 
in  Switzerland  and  France.  The  product  in  1895  was 
nearly  1,300  tons,  valued  at  50  cents  a  pound.  The 
demand  for  this  metal  will  increase  enormously  once 
it  can  be  marketed  as  cheaply  as  copper  or  zinc.  In 
1886  the  price  was  $12.00  ;  in  1892  it  had  fallen  to  50 
cents,  and  that  seems  to  be  the  limit  for  the  present. 

Mercury. — The  only  ore  of  mercury  is  cinnabar, 
the  sulfid  (HgS),  which  contains  when  pure,  about 
87  per  cent,  of  the  metal.  The  mineral  is  bright  red  or 
brownish-red  in  color,  is  of  high  specific  gravity,  and 
is  easily  vaporized  before  the  blowpipe.  Often  specks 
of  the  bright  metal  are  scattered  through  the  red 
mineral.  It  is  found  as  an  impregnation  of  various 
rocks  which  have  been  shattered  and  fissured  by 
eruptive  rocks,  which  are  always  found  near  at  hand. 

There  are  three  important  regions:  Spain,  where 
the  cinnabar  impregnates  a  sandstone  of  Silurian  age  ; 
California,  where  the  deposits  are  of  Cretaceous  and 
Tertiary  age,  and  Austria,  where  the  ore  occurs  in 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  97 

nearly  vertical  strata  of  Triassic  age.  The  mineral 
seems  to  be  the  result  of  volcanic  action,  which  has 
vaporized  mercury,  sulfur  and  steam  at  some  distance 
below  the  surface.  These  vapors  have  then  forced 
their  way  up  through  the  shattered  superincumbent 
rocks,  and  on  cooling  the  mercury  and  sulfur  have 
been  united  and  deposited. 

Around  Kamloops  Lake,  British  Columbia,  a  num- 
ber of  veins  have  been  found  in  volcanic  rocks  of 
Tertiary  age.  Exploratory  work  has  yielded  good 
results,  and  a  continuous  output  is  promised. 

The  great  use  of  mercury  is  in  the  recovery  of  gold 
and  silver  by  the  amalgamation  process.  As,  how- 
ever, the  quicksilver  can  be  used  over  and  over,  the 
market  does  not  increase  rapidly.  Another  important 
use  is  in  the  manufacture  of  vermilion  paint.  Small 
amounts  are  used  in  making  mirrors,  thermometers, 
barometers  and  medicinal  compounds.  The  output 
in  1894  was  3,952  metric  tons,  of  which  two-fifths 
came  from  Spain  and  one-quarter  from  the  United 
States,  the  remainder  being  furnished  by  Austria,  Italy, 
Mexico  and  Russia. 

LITERATURE. — Arsenic:  Roth  well,  "Mineral  Industry," 
1895  ;  Min.  Resources  of  Ontario,  1890  ;  Bur.  Mines,  Ontario, 
1893.  Antimony:  " Mineral  Industry, "  1895.  Tin:  "Min. 
Indus.,"  1895;  Louis  and  Phillips,  "Ore  Deposits."  Alumi- 
num: Richards,  "Aluminum,"  1890;  "Min.  Industry,"  1892. 
Mercury:  "Min.  Industry,"  1895;  Rep.  Min.  Mines,  B.C., 
1896. 


SECTION  II. 

MINERALS  YIELDING   NON- 
METALLIC   PRODUCTS. 

CHAPTER    IX. 

SALT,    GYPSUM  AND  BARITE. 

SALT. 

Occurrence. — Common  salt,  so  important  to  the 
welfare  of  the  human  race,  is  widely  distributed,  few 
countries  being  unable  to  supply  themselves  in  case 
of  need.  Not  only  is  the  geographical  distribution 
of  large  extent,  but  the  geological  horizons  in  which 
it  is  found  are  very  numerous.  Upper  Silurian  beds 
are  found  in  Ontario  and  New  York  ;  Devonian  ones 
in  Manitoba  and  Athabasca;  Lower  Carboniferous 
salt  springs  are  found  in  Cape  Breton  and  New 
Brunswick,  and  beds  of  the  same  period  in  Michigan 
furnish  much  of  the  salt  of  the  United  States; 
Permian  beds  are  found  in  Texas,  and  the  famous 
deposit  of  Stassfurt,  Germany,  was  laid  down  in  the 
same  period ;  in  the  Triassic  beds  are  found  the 
deposits  of  Kansas  and  Cheshire,  England,  and  some 
salt  springs  on  Vancouver  Island  come  from  the  Cre- 
taceous just  above  ;  in  Tertiary  times  were  deposited 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  99 

the  great  salt  beds  at  Wieliczka,  Austria,  and  some 
smaller  ones  in  Louisiana.  Even  in  historic  times 
deposits  have  been  formed  in  the  arid  regions  of  the 
west  of  North  America. 

Salt,  known  to  mineralogists  as  halite,  occurs  in 
nature  either  in  solid  masses,  known  as  rock  salt,  or 
in  solution  in  water  The  solutions,  or  brines,  are 
found  (1)  in  oceans  or  salt  lakes,  (2)  in  salt  springs, 
(3)  in  porous  rocks,  held  in  by  impervious  beds  above 
and  below.  On  drilling  a  hole  through  the  upper 
retaining  bed  the  third  class  may  become  the  second. 

Neither  the  rock  salt  nor  the  brines  are  pure  as 
they  occur  in  nature.  The  most  common  impurities 
are  the  sulfates  of  calcium,  magnesium  and  sodium, 
the  chlorids  of  calcium,  magnesium  and  potassium, 
and  the  carbonates  of  calcium,  magnesium  and  iron  ; 
clay,  also,  is  found  quite  frequently  in  rock  salt.  The 
amount  of  the  impurities  is  variable,  but  usually  in 
salts  of  commercial  value  it  is  quite  small.  The  fol- 
lowing analyses  show  the  composition  of  two  standard 
natural  salts : 

Goderich,  Ont.    Cheshire,  Eng. 

Sodium  chlorid,  or  salt 99. 687  96. 70 

Calcium  chlorid 032  .68 

Magnesium  chlorid    .095  .... 

Calcium  sulfate 090  .25 

Insoluble  in  water 017  1.74 

Moisture 079  .63 

100.000          100.00 
Total  impurity 234  2.67 


100  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF   CANADA. 

Origin.  — The  sea  has  probably  been  salty  since  the 
time  when  the  cooling  earth  first  allowed  the  clouds 
of  vapor  to  condense  upon  its  surface.  The  hot, 
primeval  ocean,  under  greater  pressure  than  now, 
must  have  been  a  powerful  solvent.  No  doubt  its 
saltiness  has  been  increased  since  then  by  the 
incessant  and  large  contributions  of  every  stream. 
Running  water,  as  it  percolates  through  our  soils, 
dissolves  out  here  and  there  grains  of  salt  and 
gypsum  and  limestone,  and  hurries  off  with  them  to 
the  ocean.  The  St.  Lawrence,  as  it  leaves  Lake 
Ontario,  carries  one  and  a  half  tons  of  mineral 
matter  every  second  to  be  deposited  in  the  ocean 
and  make  it  saltier.  About  3.5  per  cent,  of  ocean 
water  consists  of  solids,  of  which  common  salt 
makes  2.7  per  cent. ;  other  constituents  are  magne- 
sium chlorid,  0.4  per  cent. ;  magnesium  sulfate,  0.2  per 
cent.,  and  twenty- three  other  elements. 

Through  changes  of  level  and  other  causes,  oceanic 
waters  have  been  at  times  confined  in  lagoons,  where, 
as  evaporation  went  on,  the  calcium  sulfate  was  first 
deposited  as  gypsum,  and  later,  with  greater  con- 
centration, the  sodium  chlorid  was  precipitated. 
Mixed  with  these  were  frequently  marls  and  clays 
derived  from  erosion  of  the  neighboring  land.  Last 
of  all  came  the  deposition  of  the  potassium  and 
magnesium  salts  as  shown  by  the  beds  of  Stassfurt, 
Germany.  In  many  cases,  however,  the  sea  seems  to 
have  overleaped  the  boundary  at  intervals  and  fur- 
nished fresh  solutions  for  second  and  third  deposits. 
Only  in  a  few  cases  have  the  more  soluble  salts  of 


THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OP  CANADA.  101 

potassium  and  magnesium  been  deposited  as  at  Stass- 
furt.  The  following  section  at  Goderich,  Ontario, 
shows  six  distinct  beds  of  salt  with  intervening  beds 
of  marine-formed  dolomites  and  marls : 

Beginning  at  the  Surface.  Feet. 

Clay,  gravel  and  boulders 79 

Dolomite  and  limestone 797 

Variegated  marls  with  beds  of  dolomite. ...  121 

Rock  salt,  first  bed 31 

Dolomite  with  marls  toward  base 32 

Rock  salt,  second  bed 25 

Dolomite    7 

Rock  salt,  third  bed    35 

Marls  with  dolomite  and  anhydrite 81 

Rock  salt,  fourth  bed 15 

Dolomite  and  anhydrite 7 

Rock  salt,  fifth  bed 14 

Marls,  soft,  with  anhydrite    135 

Rock  salt,  sixth  bed 6 

Marls,  dolomite,  and  anhydrite 132 

1,517 

A  total  of  126  feet  of  rock  salt. 

In  regions  of  great  evaporation  salt  lakes  are  fre- 
quently found.  Streams  carry  soluble  salts  from  the 
land,  and  if  the  water  is  removed  only  by  evapora- 
tion the  closed  basin  becomes  gradually  saltier.  The 
Great  Salt  Lake  of  Utah  and  the  Dead  Sea  may  thus 
ultimately  become  beds  of  rock  salt.  Salt  springs  are 
but  mineral  waters  particularly  rich  in  sodium  chlorid, 
which  derive  their  salts  either  from  subterranean 
masses  or  from  salts  disseminated  through  clays  and 


102          THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA. 

marls.  These  brines  frequently  collect  in  porous  rocks 
and  are  often  associated  with  petroleum  and  gas.  In 
the  opinion  of  Hunt  the  saline  springs  of  the  Palseozoic 
rocks  of  Ontario  and  Quebec  derive  their  ingredients 
from  the  sea  water  held  in  the  interstices  of  the 
marine  sediments  of  the  period. 

Canadian  Localities.— A  number  of  salt  springs 
arise  from  the  Lower  Carboniferous  rocks  of  Nova 
Scotia  and  New  Brunswick,  but  the  proportion  of 
salt  is  too  small  to  be  of  economic  value.  About  five 
hundred  bushels  are  made  annually  at  Sussex,  N.B., 
which  is  used  locally  for  table  and  dairy  purposes. 

In  a  belt  of  country  ten  to  fifteen  miles  wide,  and 
extending  from  the  Niagara  River  to  Southampton, 
Ont.,  rocks  of  the  Onondaga  period  of  the  Upper 
Silurian  form  the  outcrop,  and  these  are  overlaid  to 
the  south-west  by  Devonian  strata.  At  numerous 
wells  sunk  through  these  overlying  rocks  for  1,000 
to  2,000  feet,  beds  of  salt  have  been  found.  The 
record  of  a  boring  for  a  Goderich  well,  given  above, 
is  typical.  At  first  the  salt  was  supposed  to  be 
confined  to  a  limited  area  near  Lake  Huron,  but  it 
is  now  known  to  extend  south  through  parts  of  Mid- 
dlesex, Kent  and  Essex  counties,  as  well  as  under 
South  Bruce,  Huron  and  Lamb  ton.  At  Kincardine 
the  salt  bed  is  found  888  feet  below  the  surface ;  to 
the  south  the  depth  increases,  being  1,170  feet  at 
Clinton  and  1,620  at  Courtright.  Farther  south,  at 
Windsor,  the  upper  salt  bed  rises  to  1,272  feet.  Salt 
from  the  same  horizon  is  found  across  Lake  Huron 
at  St.  Clair  and  Saginaw,  but  the  brines  which  are 


THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA.  103 

evaporated  at  the  latter  place  come  from  a  higher 
horizon,  that  of  the  Lower  Carboniferous. 

The  quantity  of  salt  is  inexhaustible.  At  Goderich 
the  six  beds  aggregate  126  feet  of  solid  salt,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  quantity  distributed  through  the 
marls.  At  Blyth  a  bed  eighty  feet  thick  is  found  ;  at 
Petrolia,  one  105  feet  thick ;  at  Windsor  the  well  is 
seventy-nine  feet  into  the  second  bed  without  piercing 
it.  All  the  beds  are  not  of  equal  purity ;  the  second 
and  third  at  Goderich  are  among  the  purest  known, 
yielding  on  analysis  99.7  per  cent,  of  salt. 

Numerous  salt  springs  are  found  in  the  Devonian 
area  to  the  west  of  Lake  Winnipegosis,  but  no  beds 
of  rock  salt  have  been  discovered.  These  brines, 
though  weak,  have  been  used  in  the  past  as  a  source 
of  salt.  The  process  of  manufacture  as  carried  on  by 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  crude  in  the  extreme. 
A  hole  five  or  six  feet  deep  was  made  in  the  soil,  and 
from  this  the  water  was  ladled  into  kettles  near  at 
hand.  From  these  the  salt  was  scooped  as  it  formed, 
and  after  draining  for  a  short  time  was  packed  in 
birch  bark  for  shipment.  Farther  to  the  north,  along 
the  Athabasca,  similar  springs  are  found,  and  have 
been  used  by  the  same  company. 

Manufacture. — Throughout  the  Goderich  region 
the  water  that  finds  its  way  downward  on  the  out- 
side of  the  pipes  which  are  sunk,  forms  an  almost 
saturated  solution,  which  is  pumped  to  the  surface  and 
evaporated.  A  saturated  brine  contains  25.7  per  cent, 
of  salt ;  the  brines  of  Ontario,  twenty  to  twenty-four 
per  cent.,  in  which  respect  Canadian  manufacturers 


104  THE  MINERAL   WEALTH  OF   CANADA. 

have  a  great  advantage,  those  of  Syracuse,  N.Y.,  con- 
taining only  eighteen  to  twenty  per  cent.  In  some 
cases  water  is  forced  down  between  an  inner  and  an 
outer  pipe  and  drawn  up  through  the  inner. 

Evaporation  of  the  brines  is  accomplished  either  by 
artificial  heat,  or  by  solar  heat,  or  by  congelation. 
Solar  evaporation  of  ocean  water  is  also  practised 
in  California,  Scotland,  etc.  Congelation  is  practised 
in  Norway.  The  ice  which  forms  on  a  solution  of  salt 
consists  of  nearly  pure  water,  and  by  repeated  removal 
of  the  frozen  surface  a  stronger  brine  is  gradually 
obtained.  In  Ontario  the  brine  is  usually  evaporated 
by  artificial  heat  in  iron  pans  one  hundred  to  two 
hundred  feet  long  and  twenty-five  wide. 

Uses. — The  chief  use  of  salt  is  in  seasoning  and  pre- 
serving foods,  and  as  this  depends  on  population  there 
can  be  but  a  slow  increase  in  production  in  Canada. 
Moreover,  salt  for  use  in  the  fisheries  is  imported  free 
of  duty,  and  as  vesselmen  carry  it  westward  for  almost 
nothing  (it  saves  ballast),  English  salt  can  be  sold  in 
Montreal  as  cheaply  as  Canadian.  Salt  is,  further, 
the  basis  of  many  important  chemical  industries, 
caustic  soda,  sodium  carbonate,  hydrochloric  acid  and 
bleaching  powder  being  all  derived  from  it.  A  small 
amount  is  used  as  a  fertilizer  and  in  the  reduction  of 
ores  of  silver. 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF  CANADA. 
SALT  STATISTICS  OF  CANADA. 


105 


1886 

1895 

Production   tons             .    .          ... 

62,359 

52,000 

Value                      

$227,000 

$160,000 

Exports  .        

17,000 

1,000 

Imports  paying  duty  —  tons  

6,133 

4,200 

"             "         "   value 

$39  O1  0 

$30,000 

Imports  duty  free  —  tons 

90,103 

101,000 

"           "       "   —value 

$255,000 

$333,000 

LITERATURE. — Geological  occurrence  in  Ont.,  Reports  Geol. 
Sur.,  1863-66,  1866,  1874-75,  1876-77;  Occurrence,  etc.,  in  Man., 
Geol.  Sur.,  V.  1890,  pp.  219-224  E.  Statistics,  Geol.  Sur.  Rep. 
S  ;  Min.  Resources  of  Ont.,  1890. 


GYPSUM. 

Gypsum  (CaS04  +  2aq)  is  a  soft  mineral  consisting 
of  sulfate  of  calcium  and  water.  It  is  usually  white 
or  grey  in  color,  but  may  be  red,  brown,  or  black,  if 
impure.  It  occurs  at  times  in  distinct  plates,  clear 
and  transparent ;  again  in  fibres  with  a  pearly  lustre, 
giving  rise  to  the  name  satin  spar ;  more  usually  it  is 
a  massive,  dull-colored  rock,  a  fine-grained  variety  of 
which  is  known  as  alabaster. 

Gypsum  often  forms  extensive  beds  in  stratified 
rocks,  especially  in  limestones  and  calcareous  shales, 
and  occurs  in  all  formations  from  the  Silurian  up- 
wards. In  Canada  it  is  found  in  the  Lower  Silurian  of 
Quebec,  in  the  Onondaga  division  of  the  Upper 
Silurian  in  Ontario,  and  in  the  Lower  Carboniferous 


106  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

of  the  Maritime  Provinces.  Large  deposits  were  made 
in  Triassic  time  in  the  western  United  States,  and  in 
Eocene  time  in  Europe. 

Canadian  Localities. — Gypsum  occurs  in  immense 
beds  through  the  Lower  Carboniferous  strata  of 
northern  Nova  Scotia.  In  Cumberland  it  outcrops 
along  a  line  from  Minudie  to  Wallace,  particularly  at 
Napan  River  and  Pugwash.  It  is  much  more 
abundant  in  Hants  and  Colchester,  particularly  the 
former.  Near  Windsor  there  is  found  a  "  long  range 
of  cliffs  of  snowy  whiteness,"  which,  however,  contain 
much  anhydrite  as  well  as  gypsum.  It  is  quarried  for 
export  at  Windsor,  Cheverie,  Walton,  Stewiacke  and 
other  places,  with  shipping  facilities.  The  deposit  is 
inexhaustible  ;  the  amount  quarried  is  only  limited  by 
the  demand.  In  Pictou  a  bed  of  economic  value  exists 
on  the  East  River,  but  too  far  from  navigation. 
Eastward  the  beds  are  found  in  Antigonish,  where  a 
cliff  of  gypsum,  white  and  red,  200  feet  in  height, 
fronts  the  ocean.  At  Plaister  Cove  across  the  strait 
an  enormous  bed  is  found,  two-thirds  of  which,  how- 
ever, is  anhydrite.  It  is  also  found  in  Inverness, 
Victoria  and  Cape  Breton  counties.  Nearly  the  whole 
product  of  Nova  Scotia  is  shipped  in  the  crude  form 
to  the  eastern  United  States. 

Gypsum,  according  to  Dawson,  "  is  a  very  abundant 
mineral  in  New  Brunswick,  the  deposits  being 
numerous,  large,  and  in  general  of  great  purity.  They 
occur  in  all  parts  of  the  Lower  Carboniferous  district, 
in  Kings,  Albert,  Westmoreland  and  Victoria, 
especially  in  the  vicinity  of  Sussex,  in  Upham,  on  the 


THE    MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  107 

North  River  in  Westmoreland,  at  Martin  Head  on  the 
Bay  shore,  on  the  Tobique  River  in  cliffs  over  100  feet 
high,  and  about  the  Albert  Mines.  At  the  last-named 
locality  the  mineral  has  been  extensively  quarried 
from  beds  about  sixty  feet  in  thickness,  and  calcined 
in  large  works  at  Hillsborough."  At  present  the 
mineral  is  shipped  from  Albert  and  Victoria  counties, 
most  of  it  going  in  a  crude  condition  to  the  United 
States  and  selling  at  about  90  cents  a  ton. 

In  the  valley  of  the  Grand  River  from  near  Cayuga 
to  Paris,  Ontario,  for  a  distance  of  forty  miles,  gypsum 
frequently  outcrops.  The  beds  are  lenticular  in 
shape,  the  greatest  diameter  being  about  a  quarter  of 
a  mile,  and  the  thickness  three  to  seven  feet  at  the 
maximum,  and  nothing  at  the  edges  of  the  lenses. 
The  beds  are  horizontal  and  are  capped  by  thin  bands 
of  limestone  and  the  drift,  or  by  the  latter  alone, 
which  gives  the  country  a  hummocky  appearance. 
Some  parts  of  the  gypsum  are  grey,  others  white, 
the  latter  being  purer  and  usually  at  the  top.  A 
large  number  of  mines  have  been  opened.  Usually 
a  level  is  run  in  from  the  valley  of  the  river  and  the 
mineral  brought  out  on  a  car.  It  is  ground  for  land 
plaster  and  calcined  to  make  plaster  of  Paris.  The 
former  finds  a  market  in  south-western  Ontario  ;  the 
latter,  under  the  trade  names  of  "  Adamant  Wall 
Plaster,"  "  Alabastine,"  "  Plastico,"  is  sold  throughout 
the  Dominion.  These  deposits  are  found  in  the 
Onondaga  formation  of  the  Upper  Silurian,  which  has 
been  described  earlier  in  the  chapter  as  salt-bearing. 
It  outcrops  between  Lakes  Erie  and  Huron  for  a  dis- 


108  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF  CANADA. 

tance  of  150  miles,  and  the  gypsum-bearing  area  may 
yet  be  considerably  extended. 

Along  the  Moose  River  for  a  distance  of  seven 
miles  banks  of  gypsum  ten  to  twenty  feet  high  have 
been  found.  Apparently  these  beds  are  Devonian. 
The  deposit  is,  of  course,  too  far  away  to  be  of  any 
value.  Gypsum  is  so  widely  distributed  on  this  con- 
tinent, and  in  such  large  amounts,  that  it  cannot  be 
shipped  with  profit  to  any  long  distance. 

In  northern  Manitoba  two  beds,  respectively  twenty- 
two  and  ten  feet  in  thickness,  have  been  reported,  and 
farther  to  the  north-west  along  the  Mackenzie  River 
it  has  been  found.  On  the  Salmon  River,  British 
Columbia,  it  also  occurs  in  economic  amounts,  but  at 
none  of  these  localities  is  it  mined. 

Origin. — A  number  of  theories  have  been  advanced 
to  account  for  the  great  beds  of  gypsum.  The  one 
most  commonly  accepted  is  that  given  above  in  con- 
nection with  the  origin  of  the  salt  beds,  viz.,  the 
evaporation  in  closed  arms  of  the  sea  of  salt  water. 
Sediment  would  be  deposited  first,  then  gypsum  ;  and 
as  evaporation  continued,  salt  would  be  precipitated. 
This  is  the  normal  order  the  world  over,  but  every 
gypsum  deposit  has  not  of  necessity  an  overlying  salt 
bed,  as  evaporation  frequently  was  not  continued 
long  enough;  and  in  other  cases  water  afterwards 
dissolved  and  carried  off  the  salt  which  had  been 
formed.  Hunt  has  extended  this  theory  somewhat. 
He  holds  that  the  sulfate  of  calcium  in  the  sea  water 
is  due  to  a  chemical  reaction  between  bicarbonate  of 
calcium  and  sulfate  of  magnesium,  two  soluble  salts 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  109 

brought  down  from  the  land.  Evaporation  would 
cause  the  precipitation  of  gypsum  followed  by  a 
hydrous  carbonate  of  magnesium.  If  a  calcium  car- 
bonate were  also  precipitated,  it  would  mix  with  the 
magnesium  salt,  and  on  being  slightly  heated  yield 
dolomite.  Dana  has  supposed  that  the  gypsum  of 
Ontario  and  New  York  is  due  to  the  action  of  sulf uric 
acid  springs  on  limestone,  and  that  this  might  account 
for  the  mound-like  appearance.  Logan,  however 
(Geol.  Can.,  1863,  p.  352),  thinks  that  the  gypsum  was 
formed  at  the  same  time  as  the  shales  that  overlie  it, 
and  that  the  mounds  are  due  to  the  removal  of  softer 
parts  of  the  shales.  Another  theory  which  accounts 
for  the  mound-like  deposits  is  that  of  hydration. 
Anhydrite  (CaS04),  which  is  gypsum  without  its 
water  crystallization,  is  found  in  many  sedimentary 
deposits,  and  as  it  is  capable  of  taking  up  25  per  cent, 
of  its  weight  of  water,  and  of  forming  gypsum,  but 
in  doing  so  swells  considerably,  this  would  account 
for  the  dome-like  masses.  Dawson  adopts  the  sul- 
furic  acid  theory  to  account  for  the  immense  deposits 
of  Nova  Scotia.  He  assumes  that  the  acid  given  off 
by  volcanoes  found  its  way  along  the  bed  of  the  ocean, 
until  it  met  with  beds  of  calcareous  matter  which  it 
changed  into  gypsum,  and  this  agrees  with  the  fact 
that  gypsum  is  only  found  associated  with  marine 
limestones. 

Uses. — Gypsum,  ground  to  a  fine  powder,  is  used  as 

a  fertilizer.     It  is  also  ground  and  heated,  when  it 

loses  its  water  of  crystallization  and  becomes  plaster 

of  Paris.     This  substance  has  the  valuable  property 

8 


110  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

of  taking  up  the  water  again  and  hardening,  so  that 
it  is  used  to  form  moulds,  models  and  cornices. 
Tinted  with  proper  materials  it  forms  a  beautiful 
decorative  finish  for  walls,  cheaper  forms  being  even 
used  as  common  wall  plaster.  The  World's  Fair 
buildings  at  Chicago  owed  their  beauty  to  a  white 
coating  of  stucco  made  from  gypsum.  Fine,  granular, 
semi-transparent  varieties  known  as  alabaster  are 
carved  into  ornaments 

STATISTICS,  1894. 

Tons.  Value. 

PRODUCTION — 

Nova  Scotia    168,000  $148,000 

New  Brunswick 53,000  48,000 

Ontario    2,300  6,200 


Total    223,300    $202,200 

Exports   160,000       158,000 

Imports,   crude  and  manufactured ....  4,200 

LITERATURE. — Localities  :  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick — 
Dawson,  "  Acad.  Geol."  ;  Ontario— Geol.  Can.,  1863;  Min. 
Resources  Ontario,  1890 ;  Bur.  Mines,  1891.  Manitoba — 
Can.  Rec.  Sci.,  III.  353,  1889.  North-West  Territories— Geol. 
Sur.,  1888,  30  D,  101  D.  British  Columbia— Geol.  Sur.,  1889, 
42  S.  Origin:  Hunt,  "  Chem.  and  Geol.  Essays,"  1875, 
Chap.  VIII. ;  Dawson,  "Acad.  Geol.,"  1878,  p.  262;  Dana, 
4 'Geol.,"  1895,  p.  554.  Production:  Rep.  S  of  Geol.  Sur.  Can. 

BARITE. 

Barite  (BaS04)  is  connected  chemically  with  gypsum 
and  may  be  considered  here.  It  is  also  known  as 
barytes  and  as  heavy  spar.  It  is  a  common  vein-stone 
especially  with  lead  and  zinc  ores,  and  in  Nova  Scotia 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  Ill 

with  iron  ores.  It  also  occurs  as  veins  or  pockets  in 
limestone  and  sandstone,  and  these  latter  deposits  are 
of  greater  commercial  value  since  they  are  purer.  It 
is  widely  distributed  in  Canada  but  only  mined  in  a 
desultory  way.  At  a  number  of  points  in  Pictou  and 
Colchester  counties,  N.S.,  as  Hodson,  Brookfield,  Five 
Islands,  it  has  been  mined  and  exported,  but  the  total 
production  has  been  only  a  few  thousand  tons.  A 
vein  three  feet  wide  at  Hull,  Que ,  is  the  source  of  a 
few  tons  of  material  used  in  Toronto.  On  McKellar's 
Island,  Lake  Superior  there  is  a  deposit  of  quartz, 
calcite  and  barite  sixty  feet  in  width.  It  is  only 
mined  intermittently,  though  one  of  the  best  deposits 
ever  found. 

The  chief  use  of  barite  is  as  a  pigment ;  for  this 
purpose  it  is  usually  mixed  with  white  lead,  which  it 
closely  resembles  in  color  and  weight.  By  some  it  is 
considered  an  adulterant,  though  others  claim  that  it 
gives  greater  body  to  the  paint  and  that  the  mixture 
resists  the  action  of  the  weather  better  than  pure 
lead.  Barite  should  be  free  from  quartz  grains  and 
iron  stains,  though  the  latter  may  be  removed  by  boil- 
ing with  sulfuric  acid.  In  1894  the  shipments  were 
1,080  tons,  valued  at  $2,830. 


CHAPTER  X. 
APATITE   AND    MICA. 

APATITE  (Gr.  anari,  deception)  occurs  in  green,  red, 
blue,  white,  and  even  black  crystals  or  crystalline 
masses,  the  former  being  hexagonal  in  outline  and 
frequently  of  large  size,  one  from  Buckingham,  Que., 
weighing  550  pounds  and  being  seventy- two  and  a 
half  inches  in  circumference.  Apatite  is  mainly  cal- 
cium phosphate,  its  composition  being  represented 
by  the  formula,  3Ca32P04  +  CaF2,  though  fluorin 
may  be  replaced  by  chlorin.  An  average  of  seven 
Canadian  apatites,  analyzed  by  Hoffman,  shows  cal- 
cium phosphate,  87.4  per  cent.;  calcium  fluorid,  7.4  per 
cent.;  calcium  chlorid,  3.9  per  cent.;  calcium  carbonate, 
0.7  per  cent. 

Distribution, — Apatite  is  widely  distributed,  few 
igneous  and  metamorphic  rocks  being  destitute  of  it, 
but  the  quantity  is,  in  most  cases,  insignificant.  The 
mineral  in  economic  amounts  has  been  found  only  in 
Canada,  Norway  and  Spain,  and  there  in  the  older 
rocks.  In  Canada  it  is  found  in  two  localities.  One,  in 
Ontario,  stretches  from  a  few  miles  north  of  Kingston 
one  hundred  miles  in  a  northerly  direction,  and  is  fifty 
to  seventy -five  miles  in  width.  The  other,  in  Quebec, 
extends  northward  from  Hull  about  sixty  miles,  and 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  113 

is  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  in  breadth.  The  latter, 
though  smaller  in  area,  has  much  richer  deposits,  and 
the  chief  mining  operations  centre  there. 

Occurrence. — In  both  districts  the  country  rocks 
are  gneisses  and  related  rocks  belonging  to  the  upper 
part  of  the  Lower  Laurentian.  For  the  most  part 
they  occur  in  belts  with  a  north-east  and  south-west 
trend.  Intrusive  masses  of  pyroxenite  occur  in  the 
country  rock,  the  dikes  sometimes  running  with  the 
strike,  at  other  times  across  it.  As  there  are  very 
seldom  sharply  defined  walls,  the  pyroxene  and  gneiss 
shading  into  one  another,  some  authors  have  held  the 
pyroxenite  to  be  a  metamorphosed  bed,  but  as  the 
masses  of  pyroxene  sometimes  cut  across  the  gneiss, 
this  cannot  be  the  case.  The  gneiss  is  frequently 
indistinctly  stratified  and  often  quite  massive,  and 
is  usually  more  hornblendic  in  Ontario  than  in 
Quebec.  The  apatite  deposits  are  usually  found 
either  in  the  pyroxenic  or  hornblendic  rocks  or  quite 
near  them.  Sometimes  the  mineral  is  found  in 
well-defined  veins,  but  more  usually  it  is  in  irregular 
masses  throughout  the  pyroxenic  rock,  in  some 
places  apatite  predominating,  in  others  pyroxene,  or 
mica,  or  felspar.  The  "pockets"  vary  from  a  frac- 
tion of  an  inch  to  many  feet  in  diameter,  and  while 
there  is  a  vast  quantity  of  waste  rock  to  be  mined,  it 
has  been  pretty  well  established  that  the  deposits  are 
continuous.  Associated  with  the  apatite  are  a  large 
number  of  minerals,  about  thirty  in  all.  Zircons, 
sphenes,  scapolites  and  micas  are  found  in  almost 
unequalled  size  and  perfection. 


114  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

Origin. — Many  diverse  views  are  held  concerning 
the  origin  of  the  Canadian  apatites.  Sir  W.  Dawson 
and  others  believe  in  an  organic  origin,  and  suppose 
that  coprolites  and  phosphatic  nodules  of  the  original 
sediments  have  undergone  metamorphism  along  with 
the  muds  and  sands  which  held  them,  and  so  account 
for  the  bedded  character  of  many  of  the  deposits. 
Veins  have  probably  been  formed  in  some  cases  by 
subsequent  segregation  from  these  beds.  Others  hold 
that  there  is  absolutely  no  evidence  of  organic  origin. 
Selwyn,  formerly  director  of  the  Geological  Survey, 
asserts  that  "  they  are  clearly  connected  for  the  most 
part  with  the  basic  eruptions  of  Archaean  date."  The 
same  origin  is  held  by  the  Norwegian  geologists  for 
the  apatite  deposits  of  their  country,  which  are  known 
to  closely  resemble  those  of  Canada.  The  general 
view  seems  to  be  that  the  apatite  and  accompanying 
minerals  have  been  segregated  from  the  surrounding 
rocks  into  irregular  masses  without  the  existence  of 
any  true  fissure. 

Production. — Mining  operations  were  begun  in 
Ontario  about  1850,  but  owing  to  the  pockety  charac- 
ter of  the  deposits  were  not  vigorously  prosecuted. 
Much  of  the  ore  was  raised  by  the  "  contract  system," 
farmers  excavating  pits  a  few  feet  deep,  and,  on 
exhausting  a  mass,  opening  another  hole  a  little 
farther  on.  About  1871  extensive  operations  were 
undertaken  in  the  Quebec  district ;  drills  were  used 
for  locating  the  deposits,  and  work  prosecuted  in  a 
more  systematic  manner  than  had  been  the  case  in 
Ontario.  Owing  to  the  irregularity  of  the  deposits 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  115 

not  more  than  7  per  cent,  of  the  rock  mined  is 
apatite,  but  the  mineral  obtained  is  remarkably  pure. 
The  production  is  continually  diminishing,  as  the 
following  table  shows : 

1880 13,060  tons. 

1885 28,969  „ 

1890 31,753  „ 

1891 23,588  n 

1892 11,932  H 

1893 8,198  „ 

1894 6,861  „ 

1895 1,822  „ 

1896 570  i, 

A  few  hundred  tons  are  made  into  superphosphates 
at  Smith's  Falls,  Ont.,  and  Capleton,  Que.,  and  con- 
sumed locally,  the  rest  being  exported.  About  nine- 
tenths  of  the  product  comes  from  Quebec. 

The  principal  market  has  been  Great  Britain, 
which,  in  1891,  imported  257,000  long  tons  of  phos- 
phates, of  which  Canada  supplied  about  8  per  cent. 
The  Canadian  mineral  is  being  driven  out  by  the 
cheaper  phosphates  from  the  southern  United  States. 
Along  the  Atlantic  coast  from  New  Jersey  to  Texas 
are  clays  and  marls  carrying  irregular  nodules  of 
phosphatic  material  varying  from  a  grain  to  a  ton  in 
weight.  In  South  Carolina  and  Florida  rich  deposits 
are  found  which  are  cheaply  worked.  Similar  de- 
posits are  found  in  England,  Belgium,  France,  Russia, 
and  they  are  also  reported  as  occurring  in  the  Nio- 
brara  formation  of  Manitoba.  Other  competing  pro- 
ducts are  guano,  and  basic  slag  derived  from  steel 


116  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

works  using  an  iron  ore  containing  phosphorus.  For 
the  use  of  soluble  phosphates  as  fertilizers,  see  the 
chapter  on  Soils. 


LITERATURE. — Reports  of  the  Geol.  Sur.,  1847-94,  particu- 
larly those  of  1873-74,  1876-77, 1877-78,  1888-89,  pp.  89-111  K, 
1890-91,  pp.  153-161  S.  For  localities,  see  Min.  Resources  of 
Ontario,  1890,  and  pp.  108,  109  K  Rep.  Geol.  Sur.,  1888-89; 
"Bibliography,"  p.  110  K  Rep.  1888-89,  and  Penrose,  Bull. 
46,  U.S.  Geol.  Sur.  There  is  a  full  survey  of  the  phosphate  of 
lime  deposits  of  the  world  in  Penrose's  work.  For  economic 
details  of  working,  etc.,  see  Wyatt,  "Phosphates  of  America." 


MICA. 

Occurrence. — On  the  failure  of  a  profitable  market 
for  Canadian  apatite,  the  producers  of  that  mineral 
turned  their  attention  to  mica,  which  had  until  then 
been  neglected.  The  old  dumps  of  waste  material 
were  overhauled,  the  old  workings  re-examined,  and 
new  pits  and  trenches  opened.  Some  phosphate  is 
even  mined  now  as  a  by-product  of  the  mica  industry. 

The  mica-producing  territory  embraces  the  two 
phosphate  districts  of  Ontario  and  Quebec,  and  also 
some  other  localities.  Loughboro'  and  North  Burgess 
townships  in  Ontario,  and  Ottawa  county  in  Quebec, 
are  the  chief  seats  of  the  industry.  Commercial  mica 
is  further  found  in  the  Ottawa  valley  and  Chicoutimi 
county,  Quebec,  and  in  Hastings  county,  Ontario. 

Mica  is  found  in  very  many  kinds  of  rock,  but 
usually  in  small  flakes.  Large  plates  are  most  com- 
monly found  in  coarse  granite,  which  occurs  some- 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  117 

times  as  dikes,  sometimes  without  definite  walls,  as  at 
the  Smith  and  Lacey  mine  in  Loughboro'.  Here  the 
most  coarsely  crystallized  material  has  been  excavated 
for  a  width  of  15  feet  to  a  depth  of  130  feet.  More 
frequently  operations  are  confined  to  surface  pits 
along  the  dike.  The  Villeneuve  mine,  Ottawa  county, 
has  a  vein  140  feet  wide,  which  is  being  worked  to  a 
width  of  50  feet  on  the  side  of  a  hill.  Here  the 
felspar  crystals  are  proving  to  be  quite  as  valuable 
as  the  mica.  Plates  of  the  latter,  measuring  30  x  22 
inches,  have  been  got  from  this  property,  and  one 
crystal  weighing  281  pounds  yielded  $500  of  mer- 
chantable mica. 

In  mining  care  is  taken  to  injure  the  mica  crystals 
as  little  as  possible  by  blasting.  After  being  hoisted 
to  the  surface  the  mica  is  carried  to  the  "  stripping  " 
room,  where  pieces  of  quartz,  felspar,  etc.,  are  re- 
moved. Then  in  the  "  mica  shop "  it  is  split  by 
knives  to  the  required  thickness,  and  afterward  cut 
into  standard  shapes,  which  are  put  up  in  pound 
packages  for  shipment.  There  is  great  waste  in  cut- 
ting, one  hundred  pounds  not  yielding  on  the  average 
more  than  ten  of  commercial  mica. 

The  value  of  mica  varies  greatly,  depending  on  the 
kind  of  mica  and  the  size  of  sheet.  For  instance,  the 
price  list  of  the  Villeneuve  Mine,  as  cited  by  Obalski, 
quotes  mica,  2x2  inches,  at  50c.  a  pound,  4  x  4  at 
$9.10,  7  xo  at  $14.50.  But  this  is  for  the  white  or 
muscovite  mica.  The  amber-colored  phlogopite  and 
the  dark  biotite  are  not  nearly  so  valuable.  Rough, 
untrirnmed  mica,  large  enough  to  cut  1x3,  is  sold 


118  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

as  low  as  6c.  a  pound,  and  4  x  6  at  60c.  in  ton  lots. 
All  three  of  these  micas  are  silicates  of  aluminum 
with  varying  amounts  of  potassium,  magnesium  and 
iron. 

Use  and  Production. — From  the  fact  that  mica 
is  transparent  to  light  and  is  not  broken  by  heat  or 
concussion  it  finds  employment  in  stove  panels,  win- 
dows of  men-of-war,  eye-guards  for  foundry-men,  etc. 
A  recent  use  is  as  an  insulator  in  electric  machinery. 
For  this  it  must  be  flexible,  of  uniform  thickness  and 
without  small  mineral  crystals  which  conduct  elec- 
tricity, and  for  this  purpose  the  dark  varieties  are  as 
valuable  as  the  light.  Ground  mica  is  used  in  making 
paint,  as  a  boiler  and  pipe  covering  to  prevent 
loss  of  heat,  as  a  lubricant  for  heavy  machinery,  and 
for  decorative  effect  in  wall  paper. 

Canada,  India,  and  the  United  States  are  the  only 
producers.  The  amount  mined  in  the  last  named 
country  is  decreasing,  though  the  amount  consumed  is 
increasing.  The  production  of  Canada  for  1895  was 
1,000,  that  of  the  United  States  $38,000. 


LITERATURE. — Min.  Resources  Ont.,  1890;  Rep.  Geol.  Sur., 
1894,  73  S. 


CHAPTER  XL 

ASBESTOS,    ACTINOLITE   AND    TALC. 

"  ONE  of  nature's  most  marvellous  productions, 
asbestos  is  a  physical  paradox.  It  has  been  called  a 
mineralogical  vegetable ;  it  is  both  fibrous  and  crys- 
talline, elastic  yet  brittle ;  a  floating  stone,  which  can 
be  as  readily  carded,  spun,  and  woven  into  tissue  as 
cotton  or  the  finest  silk."  In  Germany  it  is  known  as 
steinflachs  (stone  flax),  and  the  miners  of  Quebec  give 
it  quite  as  expressive  a  name,  pierre  a  colon  (cotton 
stone). 

The  commercial  substance  includes  a  number  of  dis- 
tinct minerals  which  are  alike  in  being  fibrous.  The 
true  asbestos  of  mineralogists  embraces  the  fine 
fibrous  forms  of  hornblende.  The  coarser  fibres  are 
known  as  tremolite  or  actinolite.  All  three  consist  of 
lime,  magnesia  and  silica  without  water.  The  softer, 
silkier,  and  more  flexible  mineral  which  constitutes 
most  of  the  commercial  substance  is  chrysotile,  a 
fibrous  variety  of  serpentine,  and  chemically  a  hydrous 
magnesium  silicate.  Talc,  steatite,  or  soapstone,  also 
occurs  in  a  fibrous,  as  well  as  in  the  usual  massive 
form,  and  is  very  similar  to  chrysotile  in  composition 
and  properties.  The  following  table  of  approximate 
analyses  will  make  these  relations  clear : 


120 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 


TREMOLITE. 

ACTINOLITE. 

CHRYSOTILE. 

TALC. 

Lime  

13 

13 

Magnesia  .... 
Iron  oxid  .... 
Silica. 

29 

58 

22 

7 
58 

43 
44 

32 
63 

Water 

13 

5 

Quebec  Asbestos  Mines. — These  mines,  the  most 
important  source  of  asbestos  known,  yield  85  per  cent, 
of  the  world's  product,  the  only  competing  country 
being  Italy,  where  the  industry  is  declining.  The 
asbestos  is  found  in  veins  half  an  inch  to  six  inches 
wide  in  masses  of  serpentine.  The  fibres  are  always 
at  right  angles  to  the  sides  of  the  veins,  which  are 
most  irregularly  distributed  in  the  serpentine,  cutting 
it  in  all  directions  and  being  badly  faulted.  The 
serpentine  is  associated  with  diorites  which  have 
been  erupted  through  slates,  or  occasionally  sand- 
stones, of  Lower  Cambrian  age.  These  serpentines 
extend  from  the  Vermont  boundary  in  a  north-east 
direction  almost  to  the  extremity  of  Gaspe,  and  in 
three  regions  they  have  been  found  to  contain  asbes- 
tos. The  first  is  near  Mt.  Albert  in  the  Shickshock 
Mountains,  where  the  mineral  has  not  yet  been  found 
in  economical  amounts.  The  second  is  in  Thetford 
and  Coleraine,  Megan  tic  county ;  and  the  third  dis- 
trict stretches  from  Danville  through  Orford  and 
Bolton  to  the  boundary. 

Active  mining  is  confined  to  the  second  district,  and 
to  Danville  in  the  third.  In  the  mines,  which  are  in 
reality  large  open  quarries,  the  serpentine  is  loosened 


THE  MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  121 

by  blasting,  hoisted  to  the  surface,  broken  up,  the 
refuse  thrown  on  the  dump,  and  the  blocks  bearing 
asbestos  carried  to  the  dressing  or  cobbing  house. 
Here  boys,  with  light  hammers,  separate  the  rock 
from  the  mineral  and  sort  it  into  grades.  At  some 
mines  elaborate  machinery  has  been  introduced  for 
this  purpose.  The  first  grade  contains  the  fibre  over 
half  an  inch  long  well  freed  from  rock.  The  "  seconds  " 
are  poorer  qualities  of  fibre,  and  the  refuse  makes 
"  thirds."  At  the  Thetford  mines  fifty  to  seventy  per 
cent,  of  the  output  grades  as  "firsts,"  but  at  Black 
Lake  the  percentage  is  not  so  high.  The  intrusion  of 
dikes  of  granite  at  the  latter  place  seems  to  have  caused 
sufficient  heat  to  render  parts  of  the  asbestos  harsher 
and  less  flexible.  "  Firsts "  used  to  have  a  value  of 
$125  to  $150  a  ton,  and  selected  mineral  even  brought 
$250,  but  in  1895  $70  was  an  average  price  for  "  firsts." 

The  asbestos  is  derived  directly  from  the  serpentine 
in  which  it  is  found,  and  the  latter  is  doubtless  an 
alteration  product  of  diorites  rich  in  olivine.  After  the 
serpentines  were  fissured  the  veins  were  filled  with 
material  dissolved  from  the  sides,  and  the  crystals  are 
accordingly  always  perpendicular  to  the  walls. 

In  Ottawa  county  serpentine  has  been  found  in 
reticulated  bands  of  varying  widths  in  limestone  of 
Laurentian  age.  In  places  it  carries  asbestos  of  good 
quality,  from  which  a  few  tons  have  been  brought  as 
a  test.  Chrysotile  has  also  been  found  in  Hastings 
county,  Ontario,  and  in  the  Fraser  River  valley, 
British  Columbia. 

Uses. — Chrysotile  is  flexible,  non-combustible,  and 
a  non-conductor  of  heat  and  electricity,  and  on  these 


122  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

properties  its  increasing  use  depends.  It  is  spun  into 
yarn,  from  which  cloth  is  woven  for  drop-curtains  in 
theatres,  clothing  for  firemen,  acid  workers,  etc.  It 
is  made  into  lamp-wicks,  and  gloves  for  stokers,  and 
ropes  for  fire-escapes.  It  is  felted  into  mill-board  to 
be  used  as  an  insulator  in  dynamos,  and  as  a  fire- 
proof lining  for  floors.  It  is  used  to  insulate  electric 
wires,  and  as  a  covering  to  prevent  loss  of  heat  from 
steam  pipes.  It  is  a  component  of  fire-proof  paints 
and  cements,  and  mixed  with  rubber  it  is  used  to  pack 
steam  joints.  Indeed,  one  wonders  how  we  ever  did 
without  it.  Although  Charlemagne  is  said  to  have 
had  a  table-cloth  of  asbestos  which  he  was  accustomed 
to  cleanse  by  throwing  in  the  fire,  it  was  practically- 
unknown  until  1850.  The  Italian  mineral  was  then 
experimented  with,  and  some  years  later  put  on  the 
market.  In  1878  the  first  Canadian  mine  was 
opened,  and  the  product  steadily  increased  until  1890, 
when  9,860  tons,  worth  $1,260,000,  were  mined. 
There  has  since  been  a  decline  in  value,  the  amount 
for  1896  being  12,200  tons,  worth  only  $430,000. 
Little  asbestos  is  manufactured  in  Canada,  and  conse- 
quently in  1894  we  reimported  goods  to  the  value  of 
$20,000. 

LITERATURE. — Geological  Occurrence,  Localities,  etc. :  Reports 
Geol.  Sur.  I.  1885,  62  J  ;  III.  1887,  106  K  ;  IV.  1888,  139  K  ; 
V.  1890,  19  S  ;  VII.  1894,  81  J.  Methods  of  Mining,  Cost,  etc. : 
Report  Geol.  Sur.  V.  1890,  12  SS.  History  and  Uses  :  Jones' 
"Asbestos,  "1888. 

Actinolite. — This  mineral  occurs  in  several  town- 
ships in  Hastings  and  Addington  counties,  Ontario,  in  a 
band  of  serpentine,  and  is  quarried  in  small  quantities 


THE    MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  123 

and  ground  in  a  mill  at  Bridgewater.  The  ground 
material  retains  its  fibrous  and  flaky  character,  and 
mixed  with  pitch  makes  a  strong  and  durable  roofing 
material.  Most  of  the  product  is  shipped  to  Chicago. 

Talc. — This  is  a  soft  mineral,  white  to  green  in 
color  and  with  a  greasy  feel,  which  occurs  in  fibres, 
in  foliated  masses,  and  massive.  The  last  variety  is 
also  known  as  steatite,  soapstone  and  potstone.  Some 
of  the  Indian's  pipestone  is  likewise  talc.  The  mineral 
is  widely  distributed  in  metamorphic  rocks,  especially 
the  massive  variety.  It  is  found  in  the  serpentine  belt 
of  Quebec  described  above ;  also  in  Hastings  county, 
Ontario.  Soapstone  is  unacted  on  by  heat,  and  so  is 
used  to  construct  vessels  exposed  to  high  tempera- 
tures. Ground  soapstone  is  used  to  fill  paper,  as  paint, 
and  as  a  lubricator.  The  compact  mineral  is  used  by 
tailors  under  the  name  of  French  chalk.  Small 
quantities  have  been  mined  at  Wolfestown,  Quebec. 

The  fibrous  form  of  talc  is  much  rarer  and  also 
more  valuable.  Bands  of  it  have  been  found  in 
Addington  county,  which  are  said  to  compare  favor- 
ably with  the  famous  deposits  at  Gouverneur,  N.Y., 
the  production  at  which  place  in  1895  was  worth 
$665,000.  The  talc  is  ground  very  fine,  but  still  does 
not  lose  its  fibrous  character,  and  is  then  used  in  place 
of  clay  to  give  body  and  weight  to  paper,  for  which 
purpose  it  is  better  adapted  than  soapstone.  The 
fibrous  talc  is  also  used  as  an  adulterant  in  some 
asbestos  manufactures.  About  470  tons  of  soapstone, 
worth  $2,138,  were  mined  in  1895. 

LITERATURE.— Quebec  :  Geol.  Sur.  IV.  1888,  151  K. 
Ontario:  Rep.  Bur.  Mines,  1893. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

PEAT,   COAL,  OR  A  P HIT E. 

PEAT. 

IN  all  temperate  and  northern  latitudes  there  are 
found  areas  of  bog  and  swamp  supporting  a  vigorous 
growth  of  moss.  These  mosses  are  mostly  of  the 
genus  sphagnum,  and  characteristically  grow  upward 
as  the  lower  parts  die.  Living  in  moist  places  as 
they  do,  these  dead  plants  are  immersed  in  water, 
and  so  preserved  from  rapid  decomposition  such  as 
overtakes  fallen  forest  trees.  New  vegetation  spring- 
ing up  above  gradually  increases  the  pressure,  and 
a  slow  carbonization  results.  In  this  way  is  produced 
a  bed  of  vegetable  matter  slightly  carbonized,  retain- 
ing its  fibrous  structure  and  containing  considerable 
water.  The  composition  of  this  peat,  after  removal 
of  the  water,  is  about  60  per  cent,  carbon,  6  per  cent, 
hydrogen  and  34  per  cent,  oxygen.  For  comparison, 
the  composition  may  be  expressed  in  this  way : 

Peat Carbon,  100     Hydrogen,  10     Oxygen,  55 

Anthracite.        "100  "  2.5  "         2 

Often  layers  of  marl  are  found  at  the  bottom  of  the 


THE  MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  125 

peat,  indicating  that  the  deposit  began  in  a  fresh- 
water pond  or  lake,  and  that  moss  and  rushes  spread- 
ing out  from  the  shores  gradually  filled  up  the  basin. 
Successive  layers  are  frequently  found ;  beginning 
with  the  fresh-water  shells,  a  layer  of  peat  containing 
the  remains  of  rushes  and  flags  succeeds ;  then  come 
layers  containing  mosses,  and  on  top,  after  the  bog  is 
comparatively  dry,  heaths  are  associated  with  the 
sphagnums.  Peat  bogs  grow  upward  at  a  rate  vary- 
ing from  one  foot  in  five  years  to  one  foot  in  twenty- 
five  years  or  more. 

Uses. — These  peat  bogs  cover  wide  areas  in  the  Old 
World,  and  are  there  used  extensively  for  fuel.  About 
one-tenth  of  Ireland  is  said  to  be  covered  with  these 
deposits,  and  large  areas  exist  in  the  continental 
countries.  As  the  Irish  bogs  which  are  worked  con- 
tain from  eighty-eight  to  ninety-one  per  cent,  of 
water,  it  is  of  course  necessary  to  remove  this  injuri- 
ous constituent.  Three  methods  are  available — expo- 
sure to  air  and  sun,  artificial  heat  or  pressure.  The 
peasants  use  the  first,  the  others  are  used  on  a  larger 
scale.  Even  then  ten  to  thirty  per  cent,  of  water  is 
present  in  the  prepared  turf  used  for  domestic  pur- 
poses in  Ireland. 

Peat  is  made  into  charcoal,  of  which  it  makes  a 
useful  variety.  It  is  also  distilled,  yielding  tar,  oil, 
paraffin  and  illuminating  gas.  In  New  Brunswick 
and  in  Ontario  companies  are  using  peat  to  prepare 
"  moss  litter  "  as  bedding  for  horses,  etc. 

Canadian    Localities. — It    would    be    useless    to 


126  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

attempt  an  enumeration  of  all  the  peat  districts  of  the 
Dominion,  so  many  are  found.  In  general,  it  may  be 
said  that  Anticosti  Island,  the  east  side  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  valley,  the  plain  between  the  Ottawa  and 
St.  Lawrence,  and  the  basin  of  the  Moose  contain 
extensive  areas.  Peat  as  fuel  is  only  valuable  where 
a  cheap  supply  of  coal  is  not  available.  For  this  reason 
the  beds  of  Ontario  and  Quebec  may  become  of 
economic  importance.  In  1874-75  33,000  tons  of 
peat  were  made  in  Quebec  and  used  on  the  Grand 
Trunk  railway.  Analysis  showed  approximately 
water  16  per  cent.,  volatile  matter  53,  fixed  carbon 
24,  and  ash  7  for  the  manufactured  article. 

For  details  of  Canadian  beds,  processes  of  manu- 
facture, history  of  operations,  consult  Geol.  of  Can., 
1863;  Rep.  Geol.  Sur.  IV.,  K  1888;  Bureau  of  Mines, 
Ont.,  1891,  1892. 

COAL. 

Coal  is  not  a  mineral  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word,  for  it  is  without  definite  composition.  It  con- 
sists mainly  of  oxygenated  hydrocarbons  with  some 
simple  hydrocarbons  and  free  carbon.  It  may  be 
defined  as  a  "  fossil  fuel  of  a  black  color  and  strong 
consistency,  which,  when  heated  in  closed  vessels,  is 
converted  into  coke  with  the  escape  of  volatile  liquids 
and  gases."  These  oily  substances  are  hydrocarbons 
mostly  of  the  paraffin  series.  The  varieties  of  coal 
depend  on  (1)  the  kind  and  the  amount  of  the  volatile 
ingredients,  and  (2)  on  physical  characters,  as  struc- 
ture, lustre,  hardness, 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  127 

Three  chief  varieties  are  usually  distinguished 
and  some  hundred  sub -varieties  have  been  named  : 
Anthracite,  with  a  specific  gravity  of  1.35  to  1.8, 
bright  lustre,  and  choncoidal  fracture,  has  three  to  six 
per  cent,  of  volatile  matter,  and  burns  with  a  feeble 
flame  of  pale  color,  does  not  smoke,  and  does  not 
soften  on  being  heated.  It  passes  gradually  through 
semi-anthracites  into  the  second  variety,  bituminous 
coal.  This  includes  a  number  of  sub- varieties,  all  of 
which  burn  with  a  smoky  flame,  and  give  off  oils  or 
tar  on  distillation.  In  specific  gravity  they  range 
from  1.14  to  1.40,  and  the  volatile  constituents  may 
be  as  much  as  66  per  cent.  Included  here  are  (a)  the 
caki'ng  coals,  which  soften  on  heating  and  are  used  to 
make  coke  ;  (6)  the  non-caking  or  free-burning  coals, 
used  for  heating ;  (c)  the  cannel  coals,  particularly 
rich  in  hydrocarbons,  and  so  of  use  in  manufacturing 
coal  gas.  The  third  variety,  called  Lignite,  has  a 
specific  gravity  of  1.10  to  1.30,  is  usually  dull  brown 
in  color,  and  frequently  somewhat  lamellar  in  struc- 
ture. It  is  non-caking,  rich  in  volatile  matter,  and 
usually  has  a  large  amount  of  water. 

The  following  analyses  compiled  chiefly  from  the 
Geological  Survey  Reports  will  make  the  composition 
of  the  different  varieties  clearer.  The  results  were 
obtained  by  fast  coking. 


128 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 


VARIETY  OF 
COAL. 

LOCALITY. 

Moisture  . 

rSl 
-M  £ 

Jf! 

13.84 
61.48 
57.71 
41.92 
43.16 
41.39 
33.79 
38.03 
37.11 
34.05 
35.41 
33.69 
30.33 
27.99 
33.04 
30.01 
10.79 
7.65 
4.38 
4.77 
9.15 
4.29 

«i 
.*  § 

£ 

4 
< 

Peat  
Peat,  air  dried. 
Cannel 

Dismal  Swamp,  Va  

78.89 
10.28 
2.10 
13.94 
9.66 
11.74 
12.89 
2.75 
.42 
1.12 
0.87 
1.46 

6.49 
25.23 
30.33 
38.35 
43.61 
44.03 
50.57 
52.64 
57.85 
58.56 
58.56 
59.  3o 
60.23 
60.84 
61.55 
65.82 
80.93 
80.62 
83.27 
85.76 
87.18 
88.18 

0.78 
3.01 
9.86 
5.79 
3.57 
2.84 
2.75 
6  58 
4.62 
6.29 
5.16 
5.50 
9.44 
9.62 
3.62 
2.83 
7.57 
9.74 
8.20 
6.69 
2.63 
4.04 

St.  Hubert,  Que  

Crow  Nest  Pass,  B.C. 

Lignite  . 

Souris  River,  Assa  
Swan  River,  Man  

Lignite  
Lignite 

Moose  River,  Ont 

Lignite 

Edmonton,  N.  Saskatchewan  .... 
Wellington  Mine,  Vancouver  .... 
Main  seam   Sydney   C  B 

Bituminous  .... 
Bituminous  .  .  . 
Bituminous  .  .  . 
Bituminous  .  .  . 
Bituminous  .  .  . 
Bituminous  .  .  . 
Bituminous  .  .  . 
Bituminous  .  .  . 
Bituminous  .  .  . 
Semi-anthracite 
Anthracite  .... 
Anthracite  .... 
Anthracite  .... 
Semi  -anthracite 
Anthracite  

Main  seam,  Joggins,  N.S   
International  Mine,  Cape  Breton. 
Average  Cumberland  Co.,  N.S.  .  . 
Average  Vancouver  Island 

Main  seam,  Pictou,  N.S.  .  .  .  
Crow  Nest  Pass,  B.C  

1.55 
1.79 
1.34 
0.71 
1.99 
3.42 
1.89 
1.04 
2.93 

Comox  Union  Mine,  Vancouver 
Bow  River  Pass,  Ala 

Giaham  Island,  B.C  

Mammoth  vein,  Pennsylvania  .... 
Graham  Island,  B.  C 

Bow  River  Pass,  Ala 

Pennsylvania  

The  following  table  of  ultimate  analyses  shows  the  amount 
of  each  element  present : 


T3     . 

.2 

_j 

a  a 

P^ 

VARIETY  or 
COAL. 

LOCALITY. 

| 

0) 

bO 

1 

si   <O 

IH 

O    © 

1 

X 

O 

1 

32 

I* 

Lignite  

Medicine  Hat,  Assa.. 

54.35 

3.34 

17.52 

0.17 

7.30 

16.82 

Lignitic  coal  . 

Belly  River,  Ala  

62.39 

3.99 

16.82  0.77 

6.85 

9.18 

Bituminous  .  . 

Old  Man  River,  Ala  . 

71.11 

5.04 

11.63  0.66   9.20 

2.36 

Bituminous  .  . 

WellingtonMine,B.C. 

72.65 

4.89 

12.77 

0.36   6.58 

2.75 

Bituminous  .  . 

Crow  Nest  Pass,  B.C. 

80.51 

5.20 

8.37 

0.51 

3.62 

1.79 

Anthracite   .  . 

South  Wales  

92.56 

3.33 

2.53 

1.58 

•• 

THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  129 

Impurities  in  Coal. — Carbon  and  hydrogen  are 
the  valuable  constituents  of  coal.  Nitrogen,  oxygen 
and  the  mineral  ingredients  known  as  ash,  are  not 
deleterious  except  so  far  as  they  replace  more  valu- 
able elements.  Hygroscopic  water  which,  on  burning 
the  coal,  must  be  converted  into  steam,  lessens  the 
heating  value  of  the  fuel.  Sulfur  and  phosphorus 
burn  to  offensive  gases  and  act  injuriously  on  iron, 
so  that  coals  containing  them  are  not  suitable  for 
domestic  or  smelting  purposes. 

The  amount  of  ash  in  good  coals  varies  from  two  to 
ten  per  cent.  From  the  method  of  formation  it  is 
naturally  somewhat  larger  in  anthracite  than  in  bitu- 
minous coal.  In  the  best  eoal  it  does  not  seem  to  be 
greater  than  the  amount  of  ash  in  the  plants  from 
which  it  is  derived;  but  fragments  of  shale  are 
usually  present  and  increase  the  amount.  Silica, 
alumina,  lime,  iron,  potash  and  soda  are  the  chief 
constituents  of  the  ash. 

Geological  Occurrence.  —  Coal  occurs  in  beds 
interstratified  with  shales,  sandstones,  fire-clays  and 
limestones,  the  seams  varying  from  a  fraction  of  an 
inch  to  many  feet  in  thickness.  The  "Mammoth" 
vein  of  Pennsylvania  reaches  a  maximum  of  50  feet, 
and  the  chief  seam  at  Pictou,  N.S.,  is  38  feet  in  thick- 
ness. These  thick  seams  are  not,  however,  all  coal, 
for  there  are  frequent  partings  of  bituminous  shale. 
The  following  section  slightly  condensed  from  Daw- 
son's  "  Acadian  Geology,"  shows  the  structure  of  the 
main  seam  at  Pictou  : 


130  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH   OF  CANADA. 

Feet.    Inches. 

1.  Roof  shale 0        3 

2.  Coal  with  shaly  bands 0         6^ 

3.  Coal,  laminated  ;  layers  of  mineral  charcoal  and 
bright  coal  ;  band  of  ironstone  balls  in  bottom.     2         0 

4.  Coal,  fine,  cubical  and  laminated  ;  much  mineral 
charcoal 3        2 

5.  Carbonaceous  shale  and  ironstone,  with  layer  of 

coarse  coal   0  4| 

6.  Coal,  laminated  and  cubical 9  3 

7.  Ironstone  and  carbonaceous  shale    0  8 

8.  Coal,  with  ironstone  balls  in  bottom 1  2 

9.  Coal 6  7 

10.  Ironstone  and  pyrites 0  3 

11.  Coal 10  3 

12.  Coal  coarse,    layers   of    bituminous   shale    and 
pyrites .% 1  0 

13.  Coal,  laminated 2  1 

14.  Coal  with  shale    2  3 

15.  Underclay 0  10 

Thickness  perpendicular  to  horizon 40        8 

Actual  thickness 38        6 

The  beds  occur  for  the  most  part  in  trough-shaped 
basins,  and  the  different  strata  and  coal  seams  are 
fairly  persistent  in  arrangement  and  thickness  over 
considerable  areas.  The  Pittsburg  seam  of  the  Appa- 
lachian coal  field  underlies  an  area  of  22,500  square 
miles.  Compared  with  this  the  Canadian  coal  fields 
are  of  small  extent,  but  the  beds  are  frequently  found 
throughout  the  whole  field. 

Below  the  coal  seam  there  is  nearly  always  a  bed 
of  clay,  supposed  to  be  the  soil  on  which  grew  the 
vegetation  that  was  subsequently  transformed  into 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  131 

the  coal.  Fossil  roots,  known  as  stigmariae,  are  fre- 
quently found  in  these  strata.  The  clays  are  often 
of  great  purity,  and  frequently  are  very  refractory. 
Of  course  such  clays,  at  the  time  they  supported 
plant  life,  must  have  been  horizontal ;  though  now 
they,  and  the  coal  seams  above,  are  frequently  found 
highly  inclined,  as  in  the  Pictou  field.  In  the  foldings 
to  which  the  coal  has  been  subjected  it  has  in  many 
cases  suffered  change.  In  the  Bow  River  region  of 
Alberta  the  coals  of  the  plains  are  lignite ;  but  as  the 
mountains  are  approached  the  lignites  are  replaced  by 
bituminous  coals,  and  these  in  the  Cascade  basin  in 
the  mountains  are  replaced  by  semi -anthracites  and 
anthracites. 

Thin  seams  of  coal  have  been  found  in  the  Silurian 
and  Devonian  systems,  but  none  are  of  economic  im- 
portance. The  Carboniferous,  especially  the  upper 
portions,  is,  in  the  extent  and  quality  of  its  coal  beds, 
by  far  the  most  important  coal-bearing  system.  The 
Permian,  Triassic,  Jurassic,  Cretaceous,  Eocene,  Miocene 
and  Pliocene  systems  all  contain  coal,  usually  in  small 
amounts  and  of  poor  quality.  The  Cretaceous  and 
Tertiary  coal-beds  are  often,  however,  of  enormous 
extent,  and  some  of  the  beds  are  of  excellent  quality. 

Origin  of  Coal. — That  coal  is  of  vegetable  origin 
is  attested  by  the  fact  that  the  woody  structure  is 
still  to  be  seen  in  some  cases,  and  the  microscope 
shows  the  cells  of  the  original  plant  in  many  more. 
Spores  of  lycopods  are  recognized  in  some  coals,  and 
tree- trunks  standing  at  right  angles  to  the  coal  seam, 
are  frequently  found  with  their  roots  penetrating  the 


THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA. 


clays  below.     The  Nova  Scotia  beds  have  furnished 
many  fine  examples  of  these  erect  trunks. 

These  vegetable  remains  slowly  lost  their  excess  of 
hydrogen  and  oxygen,  probably  much  as  charcoal  is 
at  the  present  time  made  from  wood,  i.e.,  by  heating 
where  no  air  is  present.  In  this  way  the  oxygen 
unites  with  a  small  part  of  the  carbon  and  passes 
off  as  carbon  dioxid,  and  a  part  of  the  hydrogen 
disappears  as  water.  The  following  table,  compiled 
from  Thorpe,  shows  the  gradual  passage  from  wood 
to  anthracite  coal  : 


1 

dj 

Hydrogen. 

S«£ 
|lf 

&   I 

4 

3 

Mean  composition  of  wood  
Club-moss  without  ash  
Humus,  mean  composition  
Peat,  Devon  ...  . 

49.6 
49.3 

54.8 
59  7 

6.1 
6.5 
4.8 
5  9 

43.1 
44.2 
40.4 
34  4 

1.2 

Lignite,  Cologne  

67  0 

5  3 

27  7 

Brown  coal,  Tasmania  

71  9 

5  6 

22  5 

Bituminous  coal,  Dudley  
"             "       Newcastle    .. 
Anthracite,  Wales  
"          Peru  .     . 

79.7 
87.9 
93.5 
97  3 

5.4 
5.3 
3.4 

1  7 

14.9 
6.8 
3.1 
1  0 

•• 

The  club-mosses  are  the  nearest  living  representa- 
tives of  the  coal  vegetation,  and  the  first  two  analyses 
show  the  great  similarity  in  composition  of  very 
different  plants.  The  oxygen  and  nitrogen  are 
gradually  eliminated,  leaving  a  product  each  time 
richer  in  carbon.  Apparently  the  hydrogen  is  not 


THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA. 


133 


affected,  but  if  a  constant  quantity  of  carbon  is  taken 
it,  too,  is  shown  to  be  given  off. 


.S°  ^  a 
°E>     'I~l 

Carbon. 

Hydrogen. 

S-  1 

|1| 

\Vood   average  .           

30 

100 

12.3 

86.8 

Peat,          "         

50 

100 

9.7 

54.7 

Lignite      "                               .... 

70 

100 

8.3 

40.0 

Brown  coal,  average           

75 

100 

7.4 

29.7 

Bituminous  coal,  "          

80 

100 

6.4 

13.4 

Anthracite  coal     " 

90 

100 

2.6 

2.3 

Wood  exposed  to  the  air  quickly  rots,  and  all  the 
carbon  is  consumed,  but  below  water  the  action  goes 
on  much  slower,  since  little  oxygen  is  present.  In 
this  way  plant  remains  might  be  preserved  for  years, 
new  accumulations  but  serving  the  better  to  prevent 
the  oxidation  of  the  carbon  of  the  old.  Noticing  the 
gradual  passage  in  composition  and  physical  charac- 
ters from  peat  to  coal,  it  is  but  natural  to  suppose  a 
peat  bog  to  be  the  origin  of  all  coal  beds.  Doubtless 
this  peat  bog  theory  is  true  for  some  of  the  lignite 
formations,  but  in  the  main  it  is  incorrect.  As  the 
shales  and  limestones  above  and  below  the  coal  seams 
contain  marine  or  brackish-water  fossils,  the  beds 
must  have  been  made  in  or  near  salt  water.  Nor 
have  they  arisen  through  the  drifting  of  timber  to 
the  mouth  of  a  stream  and  the  silting  over  of  the 
vegetable  matter.  This  estuary  theory  does  not 
account  for  fragile  fern  impressions  and  erect  tree 


134          THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA, 

trunks  and  the  stigmarise  in  the  under  clay.  Prob- 
ably the  vegetation  flourished  in  swamps  of  brackish 
water  along  the  coast  and  barely  above  sea  level. 
After  years  of  growth  and  decay  a  bed  of  vegetable 
matter  was  formed,  and  by  a  change  of  level  the  sea 
flowed  over  it,  muds  or  sands  were  deposited  and  a 
slight  elevation  taking  place  a  new  growth  of  plants 
began.  This  in  its  turn  was  covered  by  the  sea  and 
a  marine  sediment  deposited.  And  so  by  alternate 
risings  and  fallings  of  the  land,  by  alternate  marsh 
and  sea,  vegetable  and  mineral  beds  were  deposited. 
The  organic  material  under  pressure  slowly  lost  its 
gases  and  became  coal,  the  variety  depending  on  the 
age  of  the  beds  and  on  the  amount  of  pressure  and 
heat.  Graphite,  almost  pure  carbon,  has  originated, 
in  some  cases  at  least,  through  excessive  heat  and 
pressure  applied  to  anthracite,  and  it  seems  to  be  the 
last  stage  in  the  progressive  change  from  wood  to 
carbon. 

The  Coal  Fields  of  Canada.— The  Maritime  Pro- 
vinces.— Throughout  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Bruns- 
wick coal  is  found  in  rocks  of  the  Carboniferous  era, 
which  are  widely  distributed  and  in  places  are  of 
great  thickness.  Sir  William  Logan's  section  at  the 
Joggins  has  a  measured  thickness  of  14,570  feet,  and 
the  lowest  part  of  the  system  is  absent.  Sir  W. 
Dawson  assigns  a  thickness  of  16,000  feet  to  the  Car- 
boniferous of  Pictou.  The  New  Brunswick  beds  are 
very  much  thinner,  600  feet  being  about  the  average. 
Carboniferous  rocks  are  exposed  over  about  two-thirds 
of  New  Brunswick  and  one-third  of  Nova  Scotia- 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH  OP  CANADA.  135 

They  border  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  from  Gaspe 
through  New  Brunswick,  northern  Nova  Scotia,  in- 
cluding Cape  Breton  Island  and  western  Newfound- 
land. Although  of  large  extent,  but  a  small  portion 
of  this  area  is  coal-producing.  Three  fields  are  of 
economic  importance,  viz.,  Cumberland,  PictoU  and 
Cape  Breton  counties  in  Nova  Scotia.  Coal  is  found 
in  other  districts,  but  in  too  narrow  seams  to  be  of 
much  value.  A  small  amount  is  mined  yearly  in  the 
vicinity  of  Grand  Lake,  N.B.,  but  operations  are  of  a 
desultory  character. 

The  Sydney  or  Cape  Breton  field,  which  has  been 
worked  for  almost  two  hundred  years,  extends  from 
Mire  Bay  to  Cape  Dauphin,  thirty-two  miles  along 
the  north-east  coast  of  the  island.  The  land  area  of 
the  coal  measures  proper  embraces  sixty  square 
miles,  and  it  has  been  estimated  that  within  three 
miles  of  the  shore  two  billion  tons  of  submarine  coal 
are  available.  If  the  millstone  grit,  which  carries 
workable  seams  in  places,  is  included,  the  land  .area  of 
workable  coal  becomes  200  square  miles.  The  field  is 
divided  into  four  basins  by  anticlinals,  but  the  beds 
and  coal  seams  are  remarkably  uniform  for  the  whole 
district.  Conglomerate  followed  by  limestone  consti- 
tutes the  lowest  4,600  feet  of  the  Carboniferous  rocks. 
Next  above  is  4,000  feet  of  millstone  grit.  Succeeding 
this  are  the  productive  coal  measures  which  include 
argillaceous  and  arenaceous  shales,  marls,  underclays, 
limestones,  black  shales  and  coal.  The  measures  are 
1,850  feet  thick,  and  of  these  forty  to  fifty  feet  are 
coal.  The  average  number  of  seams  is  said  to  be 


136  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF   CANADA. 

twenty -four,  of  which  six  are  three  feet  and  over. 
Underclays  are  always  present,  and  sandstone  fre- 
quently covers  the  coal  seam.  The  coal,  which  is  all 
bituminous,  is  said  to  be  more  combustible  than  that 
of  Pictou,  and  contains  less  ash  and  more  sulfur. 
About  a  dozen  collieries  are  being  worked  in  this  field. 

The  Cumberland  county  area  has  in  general  a 
trough-like  structure,  the  rocks  outcropping  on  the 
north  dipping  to  the  south,  and  those  occurring 
on  the  north  flank  of  the  Cobequid  Mountains  dipping 
to  the  north.  Cliffs  in  this  county  fronting  Chignecto 
Bay  furnish  one  of  the  finest  sections  of  carbonifer- 
ous rocks  in  the  world.  The  famous  South  Joggins 
section  exhibits  almost  a  continuous  series  of  beds 
14,500  feet  in  thickness.  The  beds  dip  S.  25°  W.  at 
an  angle  of  19°  and  are  exposed  for  about  ten  miles. 
They  are  made  up  of  sandstones,  conglomerates,  shales, 
limestones  and  underclays  filled  with  stigmarise,  the 
series  containing  no  less  than  seventy-six  coal  seams 
each  indicating  a  period  of  quiescence  and  a  luxurious 
marsh.  The  thickest  seam  is,  however,  only  five  feet, 
and  this  has  from  one  to  twelve  inches  of  clay  along 
the  middle.  A  number  of  collieries  are  operating  here 
and  on  the  continuation  of  these  seams  to  the  east. 
At  Springhill  the  most  productive  colliery  in  the 
province  is  working  in  a  distinct  basin  where  there 
are  five  seams  ranging  from  four  to  thirteen  feet  in 
thickness. 

The  Pictou  field  is  a  continuation  to  the  east  of  the 
Cumberland  carboniferous  deposits.  The  thickness 
and  number  of  the  coal  seams  in  parts  of  the  dis- 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  137 

trict  are  very  remarkable.     A  part  of  the  section  at 
the  Albion  mines  is  given  by  Dawson  as  follows : 

Feet.  Inches. 

Main  coal  seam  (greatest  thickness) 39  11 

Sandstone,  shale  and  ironstone 157  7 

Deep  coal   seam 24  9 

Shales,  sandstone   and  ironstone,   with  several  thin 
coals,  viz.,  the  Third  seam,  "Purvis"  seam  and 

"Fleming"  seam,  in  all  about  twelve  feet  thick.  280  0 

"McGregor"  coal  seam 11  0 


Total .... 513      3 

Here  we  have  five  seams  aggregating  nearly  eighty- 
eight  feet  of  coal  in  a  distance  of  513  feet.  It  is  to 
be  noted,  however,  that  the  measurements  were  made 
perpendicular  to  the  surface,  and  that  the  beds  are 
inclined  at  an  angle  of  20°.  The  main  seam  has  an 
average  thickness  of  thirty-eight  feet,  and  at  least 
twenty-four  feet  of  this  is  marketable  coal.  Dawson 
calculates  that  this  seam  should  yield  23,000,000  tons 
to  the  square  mile,  and  other  seams  in  the  district  half 
as  much.  Nothing  like  this  amount  is,  however, 
attained  in  practice,  the  two  main  seams  yielding 
about  10,000  tons  to  the  acre,  or  6,400,000  tons  to  the 
square  mile.  There  are  several  reasons  for  this  shrink- 
age :  the  district  is  badly  faulted  ;  the  beds  are  steeply 
inclined,  and  so,  besides  being  hard  to  work,  soon  reach 
unworkable  depths ;  there  are  very  sudden  changes 
in  the  character  of  the  coal,  often  making  it  worthless. 
The  coals  of  this  field  are  non-caking  and  good 
steam  producers,  and  some  make  good  coke  for  iron 
furnaces.  Their  worst  defect  is  the  large  amount  of 
ashes  which  they  contain. 


138  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

For  details  of  the  geology  of  these  fields  and  of  the 
mines,  consult  the  following : 

Cumberland  Co. :  Dawson,  "  Acadian  Geology, "  "Rep.  Geol. 
Sur.,"  1873-74,  1884-85,  S  1886  to  S  1892.  Pictou  Co. :  "  Rep. 
Geol.  Sur.,"  1866-69,  1890-91,  S  1886  to  S  1894.  Poole, 
"Trans.  N.S.  Inst.  Sci.,"  II.  1,  1892-93.  Dawson,  "Acad. 
Geol."  Cape  Breton  Co. :  "  Rep.  Geol.  Sur.,"  1872-73,  1874-75, 
1882-84,  S  1886  to  S  1892.  Fletcher,  "Trans.  Min.  Soc., 
N.S.,"  III.  1894-95.  Dawson,  "Acad.  Geol."  Routledge, 
''Trans.  Am.  Inst  Min.  Eng.,"  XIV.  542.  Much  information 
concerning  all  of  them  will  be  found  in  the  annual  reports  of 
the  Department  of  Mines  of  Nova  Scotia. 

Manitoba  and  the  North-West  Territories. — 
Throughout  the  plain  region  of  Canada  there  is  an 
immense  tract  of  territory  bearing  coal.  While  the 
Carboniferous  was  the  coal-forming  era  of  the  east, 
rocks  of  this  age  are  destitute  of  coal  in  the  west, 
their  place  being  taken  by  the  Cretaceous  and  early 
Tertiary  formations.  The  coals  vary  from  poor 
lignites  to  good  anthracites,  the  quality  improving  as 
the  mountains  are  approached.  The  most  easterly 
beds  occur  in  the  Laramie  formation  in  the  Turtle 
Mountain  district,  Manitoba,  where  a  bed  is  found 
some  four  feet  thick  and  fairly  persistent  throughout 
the  district.  Throughout  southern  Assiniboia  there 
is  an  immense  area  of  Laramie  rocks,  carrying  lignite 
in  many  places.  In  the  Souris  River  valley  Selwyn 
estimates  that  there  is  an  area  of  120  square  miles, 
carrying  7,137,000  tons  to  the  mile.  These  coals  con- 
tain a  large  amount  of  water,  and  easily  disintegrate 
on  exposure,  so  that  they  are  un suited  for  transporta- 
tion, but  can  be  used  locally. 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  139 

Natural  sections  occurring  on  the  river  banks  show 
seams  of  coal  at  scores  of  places  throughout  the 
Cretaceous  and  Laramie  of  south-western  Assiniboia, 
and  the  whole  of  Alberta.  At  Medicine  Hat,  on  the 
South  Saskatchewan,  in  a  bank  260  feet  high,  there 
are  nine  beds,  aggregating  sixteen  feet  of  coal,  two 
of  these  beds  being  each  about  five  feet  thick. 
At  Coal  Banks  on  the  Belly  River  there  are  five 
seams  in  42  feet.  No  data  are  available  for  estimating 
the  exact  extent  and  value  of  these  enormous  beds. 
Dawson  has  shown  that  in  several  districts  in  the 
Bow  and  Belly  River  valleys  there  are  5,000,000  tons 
to  the  square  mile.  The  great  seam  on  the  North 
Saskatchewan  maintains  a  thickness  of  25  feet  for 
three  miles,  and  has  been  traced  for  180  miles. 

In  the  region  of  the  plains  the  coal  is  lignitic,  but 
superior  to  that  widely  used  in  Germany  and  Austria. 
In  the  foot-hills  and  in  the  isolated  Laramie  and 
Cretaceous  basins  of  the  mountains,  the  coal  is 
bituminous.  In  one  basin — the  Cascade — pressure 
has  been  greater  and  an  anthracite  has  been  produced. 
This  basin  is  65  miles  long  and  about  2  wide.  The 
rocks,  which  are  5,000  feet  in  thickness,  are  shales  and 
sandstones  of  the  Kootanie  division  of  the  Cretaceous. 
Two  seams  of  workable  coal  are  here  yielding  the 
only  anthracite  produced  in  Canada.  Outcrops  of 
lignite  are  found  in  the  river  valleys  far  to  the  north. 
Coal  beds  on  the  Mackenzie  River  in  latitude  67°  N., 
and  on  the  Lewes,  a  tributary  of  the  Yukon,  and  else- 
where, may  yet  prove  of  great  value. 

For  details  see  the  following  Geol.  Sur.  Reports  : 
Souris  River,  etc ,  1879-80  A;  Bow  and  Belly  Rivers, 


140  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

1880-82  B,  1882-84  C;  Cascade  basin,  1885  B; 
Analyses,  physical  characters,  fuel  value,  1882-84  M, 
1885  M,  1887  T,  1888  R ;  Localities,  Catalogue  Sec- 
tion I.  of  the  Museum. 

British  Columbia. — Coal  was  discovered  in  British 
Columbia  in  1835,  and  a  few  tons  mined  each  year 
until  1852,  when  operations  were  begun  on  a  larger 
scale.  Up  to  the  end  of  1896  over  11,000,000  tons 
have  been  mined,  and  the  industry  is  growing  con- 
tinuously. Coal  is  found  in  two  geological  formations, 
the  Mesozoic  and  Tertiary.  Carboniferous  rocks, 
though  found  in  British  Columbia,  and  often  of 
great  thickness,  are  never  coal-bearing.  The  coal 
found  varies  all  the  way  from  a  poor  lignite,  though 
first-class  bituminous  coal  to  a  good  anthracite. 

The  Cretaceous  was  the  coal-bearing  era  in  the 
province,  and  two  periods  of  growth  are  recognized. 
The  older  is  represented  by  the  coal  measures  of  Queen 
Charlotte  Islands,  Quatsino  Sound,  Vancouver  Island, 
and  Crow's  Nest  Pass  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
The  upper  coal  measures  of  the  Cretaceous  are  found 
at  Nanaimo,  Comox  and  Suquash  on  Vancouver 
Island.  On  the  Queen  Charlotte  Islands  both  anthra- 
cite and  bituminous  coal  are  found.  The  beds  in  which 
the  former  is  found  are  almost  vertical,  a  fact  connected 
with  the  metamorphism  which  the  coal  has  under- 
gone. Mining  operations  have  been  attempted  on  a 
bed  six  feet  thick,  but  the  difficulty  of  following  the 
seams,  the  coal  often  being  in  a  crushed  and  pulveru- 
lent state,  has  been  a  barrier,  so  far,  to  success.  Valu- 
able seams  of  bituminous  coal,  eighteen  feet  thick, 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  141 

are  found  in  these  islands.  In  the  same  horizon 
in  the  Crow's  Nest  Pass  twenty  seams  of  bitumin- 
ous coal  are  reported,  three  of  them  being  respectively 
15,  20  and  30  feet  thick,  in  all  132  feet.  The  area 
of  this  field  is  at  least  144  square  miles,  and  it 
promises  to  be  one  of  the  most  productive  fields  in 
the  Dominion.  Selwyn  calculates  that  there  are 
50,000,000  tons  to  the  square  mile. 

The  chief  productive  measures  at  present  are  in 
the  upper  portion  of  the  Cretaceous  system.  This 
formation  extends  as  a  synclinal  trough  for  130 
miles,  the  western  side  of  the  trough  forming  the 
eastern  slope  of  Vancouver  Island,  and  the  remainder 
being  under  water.  It  is  divided  into  two  districts, 
the  northern  one,  the  Comox  field,  having  an  area  of 
three  hundred  square  miles,  and  the  Nanaimo  one  to 
the  south  an  area  of  two  hundred  square  miles.  At 
Comox  the  coal  measures  are  740  feet  in  thickness, 
and  contain  nine  seams  aggregating  16  feet  of  coal. 
The  lowest  and  thickest  averages  7  feet.  At  the 
Union  mine  in  122  feet,  only  a  small  part  of  the 
productive  measures,  there  are  ten  seams  with  an 
aggregate  of  30  feet  of  coal,  the  thickest  bed  being  10 
feet.  Richardson  has  calculated  that  in  this  field 
there  are  16,000,000  tons  of  coal  to  the  square  mile. 
In  the  Nanaimo  field  there  are  two  seams  of  workable 
coal,  six  to  ten  feet  in  thickness.  The  coal  from  both 
these  fields  is  of  excellent  quality  and  much  superior 
to  the  lignites  found  in  Washington  and  Oregon 
States  to  the  south. 

The  fuels  of  the  Tertiary  in  British  Columbia  are 

usually   lignites,   though   occasionally   a  bituminous 

10 

<  OF  THK 

UNIVERSITY 


142  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

coal  is  found.  Most  of  them  are  found  in  rocks  of 
the  Miocene  era,  though  at  the  mouth  of  the  Fraser 
an  area  of  eighteen  thousand  square  miles  is  under- 
laid by  the  Laramie  formation,  which  is  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  lignite-bearing  formation  of  Wash- 
ington State.  About  twelve  thousand  square  miles  of 
igneous  Tertiary  rocks  in  the  interior  plateau  are 
underlaid  by  sedimentary  rocks  of  the  same  era,  and 
these  probably  contain  deposits  of  lignite  in  many 
places.  Such  beds  have  indeed  been  found  and 
worked  in  the  valleys  of  the  Nicola  and  Thompson 
rivers.  Many  other  localities  are  reported,  a  com- 
plete list  of  which  is  given  by  Dawson,  Rep.  R 
Geol.  Sur.  Can.,  1887-88,  p.  145.  For  details  of  the 
coal  districts  see  the  Geol.  Sur.  Reports,  1871-72, 
1872-73,  1873-74,  1876-77,  1878-79,  B  1885,  B  1886, 
R  1887,  A  1891,  and  the  annual  reports  of  the  Minis- 
ter of  Mines  of  British  Columbia. 

Foreign  Coal  Fields, — In  the  United  States  there 
are  several  areas  of  Carboniferous  coal,  the  most  im- 
portant one  being  that  of  Pennsylvania- Arkansas. 
The  productive  measures  of  this  area  are  divided  into 
three  parts,  viz.,  Appalachian,  Illinois  and  Mississippi. 
Throughout  the  Western,  Rocky  Mountain  and  Pacific 
States  there  are  immense  areas  of  Cretaceous  and  Ter- 
tiary coals.  Most  of  these  are  lignites,  but  some  are 
good  bituminous  coals.  The  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts 
of  the  United  States  are  without  good  coal ;  the 
interior  is  well  supplied.  There  are  about  300,000 
square  miles  of  coal-bearing  strata,  but  not  more 
than  50,000  square  miles  are  of  economic  importance. 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 


143 


In  Great  Britain  the  area  of  the  coal  measures  is 
12,000  square  miles,  the  thickness  being  greater 
than  in  any  other  part  of  Europe.  In  France  there 
is  an  area  of  2,000  square  miles ;  in  Spain,  4,000 ;  in 
Belgium,  518;  in  Austria,  1,800  ;  in  Germany,  1,700. 
In  Russia  there  is  an  area  of  30,000  square  miles,  but 
in  not  more  than  11,000  are  the  beds  of  economic 
value.  In  China,  India  and  Australia  there  are  large 
areas  of  Permian  age,  and  in  Austria  and  Germany 
there  are  large  areas  of  lignite  in  beds  of  Miocene  age. 

Production.  —  The  following  tables  are  self- 
explanatory  : 

ANNUAL  PRODUCTION  OF  CANADA. 


YEAR. 

N.  B. 

N.  S. 

N.  W.  T. 

B.  C. 

Total 
Tons. 

Total 
Value. 

1885 
1894 
1895 
1896 

7,000(?) 
6,000 
9,000 

1,514,000 
2,527,000 
2,266,000 

40,000 
200,000 
186,000 

366,000 
1,135,000 
1,052,000 

1,880,000 
3,868,000 
3,513,000 
3,743  000 

$3,817,000 
8,499,000 
7,727,000 
8  006  000 

IMPORTS  AND  EXPORTS   OF  CANADA. 


IMPORTS. 

EXPORTS. 

Tons. 

Value. 

Tons. 

Value. 

[  Bituminous  coal.  . 
1894  -I  Anthracite   
^  Coal  dust  

(  Bituminous  coal  .  . 
1895  -1  Anthracite  

1,360,000 
1,531,000 
118,000 

1,445,000 
1,404,000 
181,000 

$3,315,000 
6,354,000 
50,000 

3,321,000 
5,351,000 
52,000 

1,104,000 

$3,542,000 

1,011,000 

3,318,000 

^  Coal  dust  

144      THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA. 

PRODUCTION  OF  COAL  IN  THE  WORLD. 

(From  " RothwelVs  Mineral  Industry") 

(Metric  tons,  2,204  Ibs.) 
Country.  1895. 

Great  Britain 194,351,000 

United  States  177,596,000 

Germany    103,877,000 

France  28,236,000 

Austria 27,250,000 

Belgium     20,415,000 

Russia    7,551,000 

Australia   3,975,000 

Japan     3,650,000 

Canada 3,187,000 

India 2,650,000 

All  other  countries 5,267,000 


Total 578,209,000 

LITERATURE. — "Reports  Pennsylvania  Geological  Survey;" 
Dawson,  **  Acadian  Geology  ;  "  Green,  etc.,  "  Coal,  Its  History 
and  Uses;  "  Dana's  "Geology  ;  "  Geikie's  "Geology  ;  "  Details 
of  equipment  and  production  of  Canadian  mines  in  statistical 
reports  (S)  of  the  Geol.  Sur.,  and  in  the  annual  reports  of  the 
Departments  of  Mines  for  N.S.  and  B.C. ;  also  in  Can.  Mining 
Manual,  1896. 

GRAPHITE. 

Graphite  is  a  soft  greyish-black  mineral,  with  a 
greasy  feeling,  consisting  entirely  of  carbon.  It  is 
known  also  as  plumbago  and  as  black-lead,  but  both 
are  misnomers  since  it  does  not  contain  that  metal. 
Sometimes  it  occurs  in  hexagonal  crystals,  more 
usually  in  a  massive  state,  either  foliated,  columnar, 
or  scaly.  It  is  found  in  beds  or  disseminated  masses 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  145 

in  metamorphic  rocks  as  gneiss  and  crystalline  lime- 
stone. In  some  cases  it  has  certainly  resulted  from 
the  alteration  of  coal  by  heat,  occasioned  by  mountain 
folding,  as  in  Rhode  Island,  or  by  the  heat  of  errupted 
dikes,  as  in  Texas.  Some  have  held  that  all  the 
graphite  of  the  older  rocks  is  of  this  origin,  and  that 
the  immense  deposits  in  the  Laurentian  gneisses  are 
but  the  metamorphosed  vegetable  remains  of  that 
distant  time.  Of  this  we  have  no  direct  proof,  and 
the  absence  of  all  fossil  remains  rather  speaks  against 
the  theory. 

Occurrence — Graphite  is  distributed  through  the 
older  rocks  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  It  occurs  in 
immense  quantities  of  exceptional  purity  in  the  island 
of  Ceylon,  and  it  is  from  there  that  most  of  the 
commercial  supply  is  now  brought.  Austria,  Ger- 
many and  the  United  States  contain  large  deposits, 
and  a  considerable  amount  is  mined  yearly  in  these 
countries. 

In  Canada  graphite  is  found  in  economic  deposits 
in  three  localities.  In  the  neighborhood  of  St.  John, 
N.B.,  beds  of  argillites  and  limestones  contain  large 
quantities  of  disseminated  graphite.  Argenteuil  and 
Ottawa  counties,  Que.,  and  the  line  of  the  Kingston 
and  Pembroke  Railway,  Ont.,  are  the  two  other  local- 
ities which  are,  however,  geologically  one.  The 
Quebec  region  is  the  more  important,  and  from  it 
nearly  all  the  mineral  produced  in  Canada  has  come. 
According  to  Vennor  the  graphite  is  here  found  "  in 
three  distinct  forms :  1,  as  disseminated  scales,  or 
plates  in  the  limestones,  gneisses,  pyroxenites  and 


146  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

quartzites,  and  even  in  some  of  the  iron  ores,  as  at 
Hull ;  2,  as  lenticular  or  disseminated  masses,  embed- 
ded in  the  limestone,  or  at  the  junction  of  these  and 
the  adjoining  gneiss  and  pyroxenite  ;  and  3,  in  the 
form  of  true  fissure  veins,  cutting  the  enclosed  strata." 
The  first  method  of  occurrence  is  of  the  most  import- 
ance economically,  twenty  to  thirty  per  cent,  of  the 
rock  frequently  being  graphite.  The  veins  vary  from 
an  inch  to  two  feet  in  width  and  contain  the  purest 
mineral.  The  rock  is  crushed  and  washed  and  the 
lighter  graphite  separated,  the  dressed  graphite  result- 
ing containing  three  to  ten  per  cent  of  ash,  which  by 
treatment  with  hydrochloric  acid  is  easily  removed. 
Hoffman  has  shown  that  so  treated  Canadian  graphite 
is  quite  as  pure  and  quite  as  incombustible  as  the 
Ceylon  product.  Vein  graphite  from  Ceylon  and 
Canada  are  almost  identical,  as  the  following  analyses 
show: 

Canada:  carbon,  99.81;  ash,  0.08;  volatile  matter,  0.11 
Ceylon:         "       99.79;    "     0.05;         "  "       0.16 

Notwithstanding  these  large  and  pure  deposits  the 
production  of  Canadian  graphite  is  decreasing,  the 
reason  assigned  being  the  lack  of  uniformity  in  the 
article  put  on  the  market. 

Uses. — The  uses  of  graphite  depend  on  its  infusi- 
bility,  softness,  and  ability  to  conduct  heat  and 
electricity.  One-third  of  the  product  is  employed  in 
refractory  articles,  as  crucibles,  furnaces,  etc.  It  is 
a  striking  fact,  illustrating  the  influence  of  the 
arrangement  of  the  molecules  of  a  substance  on  its 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH  OF   CANADA.  147 

properties,  that  we  use  pure  carbon  as  charcoal  or 
coke  to  heat  our  furnaces,  and  pure  carbon  mixed  with 
fire-clay  to  make  crucibles  to  resist  the  heat.  Other 
uses  of  graphite  are  for  stove  polish,  foundry  facings, 
glazing  powder,  lubricating  heavy  machinery,  electro- 
typing  and  pencil  leads. 

The  production  in  1895  was  220  tons,  valued  at 
$6,100,  and  of  this  54  tons  valued  at  $4,800  were 
exported.  There  were  imported  the  same  year  plum- 
bago manufactures  to  the  value  of  $38,000. 

LITERATURE.— Rep.  Geol.  Sur.,  1873-74,  1876-77,  1888  K, 
1890-91  S  and  S  S. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE      HYDROCARBONS. 

PETROLEUM. 

PETROLEUM  is  an  oily  liquid  of  disagreeable  odor, 
usually  greenish -brown  in  color  but  varying  widely. 
In  specific  gravity  it  ranges  from  0.6  to  0.9,  some 
kinds  being  thin  and  flowing  whilst  others  are  thick 
and  viscous.  On  the  one  hand,  it  graduates  through 
maltha  into  asphalt  or  solid  bitumen  ;  on  the  other 
into  natural  gas.  None  of  these  substances  are  pro- 
perly minerals.  They  are  indefinite  mixtures  of  a 
number  of  hydrocarbon  compounds,  chiefly  of  the  par- 
affin series  (CnH2n+2).  The  olefins  (CnH2n)  and  ben- 
zenes (CnH2n_6)  are  present  in  small  amount.  The 
higher  the  value  of  n  the  higher  the  melting  and 
boiling  points,  so  that  certain  mixtures  are  gases, 
others  liquid  oils,  and  a  third  division  are  solids. 
The  solid  paraffins  are  soluble  in  the  liquid  ones,  so 
that  crude  petroleum  often  yields  large  amounts  of 
paraffin  wax.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  Ontario 
oil.  The  different  liquid  compounds  are  separated 
by  distillation,  and  the  crude  oil  is  made  to  yield  gaso- 
line, benzine,  naphtha,  kerosene,  lubricating  oil,  etc. 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  149 

Occurrence. — Petroleum  occurs  in  all  the  sedi- 
mentary formations  from  the  Cambrian  period  to  the 
present.  Its  geographical  distribution  is  world-wide, 
but  it  is  in  comparatively  few  localities  that  it  exists 
in  economic  quantities.  It  is  associated  usually  with 
argillaceous  shales  and  sandstones,  and  not  infre- 
quently is  found  impregnating  limestones.  Where 
these  oleiferous  rocks  outcrop,  the  water  of  the  wells 
and  rivers  frequently  has  a  scum  of  oil.  More  often, 
and  especially  with  the  richer  deposits,  the  oil  beds 
are  at  some  distance  below  the  surface  and  covered 
with  an  impervious  layer  of  rock.  The  source  of  the 
oil  is  undoubtedly  the  animals  and  plants  which  were 
entombed  in  the  sedimentary  deposits.  On  decom- 
position these  remains  yielded  hydrocarbons  which 
were  stored  in  the  rocks,  sometimes  evenly  distrib- 
uted, as  throughout  the  bituminous  Utica  shale ;  at 
other  times  collected  in  caverns.  The  geological 
structure  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  oil  and 
gas  seems  to  be  an  anticlinal  arch  with  an  imper- 
vious layer  above  and  a  porous  one  below,  or  else  a 
cavern  in  an  impervious  stratum.  Some  geologists 
hold  that  oil  and  gas  are  always  the  result  of 
secondary  distillation — that  after  the  production  of 
bituminous  shales  slow  distillation  takes  place,  and 
the  products  collect  where  the  structure  is  suitable,  or 
slowly  escape.  On  this  view  oil  should  never  be 
found  in  the  rock  in  which  the  organic  remains 
abound,  but  above  it.  For  some  fields,  as  the  Ontario 
one,  this  is  certainly  not  the  case.  Some  have 
assumed  that  oil  and  gas  are  the  more  volatile  parts 


150          THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA. 

of  the  immense  mass  of  vegetation  whose  remains 
form  our  coal  beds.  The  great  oil  and  gas  wells  are, 
however,  sunk  in  Silurian  and  Devonian  strata,  and 
consequently  lie  below  the  coal  beds,  which  belong  to 
the  later  Carboniferous  period. 

When  a  well  is  drilled  into  a  petroleum  pool,  oil, 
gas,  or  salt  water  may  be  found.  They  are  probably 
arranged  in  the  porous  sandstone  in  the  order  of 
their  specific  gravities,  with  gas  at  the  top,  water 
at  the  bottom,  and  oil  between.  Through  long-con- 
tinued distillation  in  a  confined  space,  the  gas  is 
usually  under  great  pressure.  When  the  bore-hole 
reaches  the  deposit,  the  expanding  gas  either  rushes 
out  itself,  or,  if  the  bore  tapped  the  cavern  nearer  the 
bottom,  forces  out  the  oil,  or  water,  as  the  case  may 
be.  After  exhaustion  of  the  gaseous  pressure  pump- 
ing is  resorted  to.  Before  leaving  a  pumped-out  well 
it  is  customary  to  "shoot"  it.  A  charge  of  nitro- 
glycerine is  exploded  in  the  bottom,  by  which  new 
channels  are  opened  and  a  fresh  supply  of  oil  often 
obtained. 

Canadian  Oil  Fields.— In  1862  the  first  flowing 
well  was  struck  at  Oil  Springs,  Lambton  county, 
Ontario.  There  was  an  immediate  rush  to  the  field. 
Dr.  Alex.  Winchell,  in  his  "  Sketches  of  Creation," 
describes  the  excitement  and  waste  as  follows 
"  Though  western  Pennsylvania  has  produced  numer- 
ous flowing  wells  of  wonderful  capacity,  there  is  no 
quarter  of  the  world  where  the  production  has 
attained  such  prodigious  dimensions  as  in  1862  upon 
Oil  Creek,  in  the  township  of  Enniskillen,  Ontario. 


THE  MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  151 

The  first  flowing  well  was  struck  there  January  11, 
1862,  and  before  October  not  less  than  thirty-five 
wells  had  commenced  to  drain  a  storehouse  which 
provident  Nature  had  occupied  untold  thousands  of 
years  in  filling  for  the  uses — not  the  amusement — of 
man.  There  was  no  use  for*  the  oil  at  that  time. 
The  price  had  fallen  to  ten  cents  per  barrel.  The 
unsophisticated  settlers  of  that  wild  and  wooded 
region  seemed  inspired  by  an  infatuation.  Without 
an  object,  save  the  gratification  of  their  curiosity  at 
the  onwonted  sight  of  a  combustible  fluid  pouring 
out  of  the  bosom  of  the  earth,  they  seemed  to  vie 
with  each  other  in  plying  their  hastily  and  rudely 
erected  'spring  poles'  to  work  the  drill  that  was 
almost  sure  to  burst,  at  the  depth  of  a  hundred  feet, 
into  a  prison  of  petroleum.  Some  of  these  wells 
flowed  three  hundred  and  six  hundred  barrels  per 
day.  Others  flowed  a  thousand,  two  thousand,  and 
three  thousand  barrels  per  day ;  three  flowed  sever- 
ally six  thousand  barrels  per  day.  .  .  .  Three 
years  later  that  oil  would  have  brought  ten  dollars 
per  barrel  in  gold.  Now  its  escape  was  the  mere 
pastime  of  full-grown  boys."  Five  million  barrels 
were  wasted  in  this  way  the  first  summer. 

There  are  two  distinct  fields  in  Lambton  county, 
separated  by  a  synclinal  fold.  The  Petrolia  one 
extends  west-north-west  thirteen  miles,  and  is  about 
two  in  width.  The  Oil  Springs  field  covers  about 
two  square  miles.  In  both  cases  the  oil  is  found 
in  the  Corniferous  limestone — at  Oil  Springs  at  a 


152  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

depth  of  370  feefc ;   at  Petrolia,  465  feet  below  the 
surface. 

The  following  is  the  log  of  a  well  at  Petrolia  : 

Surface 104  feet  ^  Drift. 

Limestone  ("  Upper  lime  ").  . .     40 
Shale  ("  Upper  soap  ") 130 


Limestone  ( ' '  Middle  lime  ")  . .  15 

Shale  ( ' '  Lower  soap  ") 43 

Limestone,  hard  white 68 

"          soft 40 

grey 25 

Oil  at  a  depth  of 465 


Hamilton. 


ICorniferous. 


About  ten  thousand  wells  are  now  in  operation, 
yielding  on  the  average  about  half  a  barrel  a  day. 
About  four  hundred  wells  are  drilled  annually  to 
replace  those  exhausted.  Pipe  lines  are  laid  through 
the  district,  and  the  companies  receive  oil  from  pro- 
ducers and  store  it  until  sold  to  the  refiners. 

A  little  south-west  of  Bothwell,  Kent  county,  is  a 
third  field,  which  is  likely  to  become  a  producing 
area.  Small  amounts  of  oil  have  been  obtained  in 
other  parts  of  Ontario,  notably  Oxford,  Essex,  Perth 
and  Welland  counties  and  on  Manitoulin  Island  ;  but 
no  paying  wells  have  been  found.  Recent  discoveries 
on  Pelee  Island  are  promising.  Oil  oozes  to  the 
surface  over  a  considerable  area  to  the  south  of  Gaspe' 
Bay,  Que.  Several  borings  have  been  made,  but  the 
yield  has  been  small.  The  prospect  for  productive 
oil  wells  is,  however,  a  good  one.  In  Nova  Scotia 
and  New  Brunswick  surface  indications  of  oil  have 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  153 

been  found,  but  boring  operations  have  resulted  in 
entire  failure. 

In  the  valley  of  the  Athabasca,  in  the  North-West 
Territories,  there  is  an  immense  deposit  of  tar  sands. 
These  sands  are  siliceous  in  character,  fine-grained 
and  cemented  together  by  maltha,  or  inspissated 
petroleum.  They  belong  to  the  Dakota  formation, 
the  lowest  division  of  the  Cretaceous,  and  lie  un- 
conformably  on  Devonian  limestones.  They  outcrop 
over  an  area  of  one  thousand  square  miles,  and 
possibly  extend  beneath  the  surface  as  far  as  the 
Saskatchewan.  In  many  places  one-fifth  of  the 
sand,  by  bulk,  is  bitumen.  It  has  been  calculated 
by  McConnell  that  there  are  six  and  a  half  cubic 
miles  of  bitumen  in  the  Athabasca  valley.  It  is  the 
residue  of  a  flow  of  petroleum  from  the  underlying 
Devonian,  unequalled  elsewhere  in  the  world.  These 
tar  sands  will  doubtless  soon  become  of  value  as  a 
source  of  bitumen. 

Farther  to  the  south  there  is  a  probability  of  find- 
ing oil  which  has  not  lost  its  volatile  ingredients. 
South  of  Boiler  Rapids  the  tar  sand  is  overlaid  by 
impervious  shale,  which  in  small  anticlines  doubtless 
has  imprisoned  some  oil  and  gas.  All  through  the 
Mackenzie  River  valley  similar  deposits  of  tar  are 
found,  and  the  same  probabilities  of  extensive  oil 
pools  exist.  In  the  South  Kootenay  Pass  there  are 
some  indications  of  economic  deposits  being  found 
in  Cambrian  strata. 

Refining  and  Use. — The  crude  oil  is  distilled  in 
large  sheet-iron  retorts.  The  easily  vaporized  gasoline 


15  4  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

and  naphtha  come  off  first  and  are  condensed  ;  then 
the  kerosene,  the  wool  oils,  and  lastly  the  lubricating 
oils  follow ;  a  carbonaceous  mass  is  left  behind.  The 
coke  is  used  as  fuel ;  the  other  distillates  are  further 
separated  and  purified  by  redistillation  and  by  chemi- 
cals. The  Ontario  oil  contains  a  very  large  percentage 
of  sulfur,  and  in  the  early  days  it  was  not  known  how 
to  remove  this.  Canadian  oil,  as  a  result,  had  a  dis- 
agreeable odor,  and  there  is  a  prejudice  against  it  to 
this  day,  though  it  is  claimed  that  the  best  quality  is 
now  as  good  as  any  on  the  market. 

The  crude  petroleum  yielded  the  refiners  in  1889  : 

Illuminating  oils 38 . 7  per  cent. 

Benzine  and  naphtha 1.6    "     " 

Paraffin  and  other  oils  (including  gas, 
paraffin,  black  and  other  lubri- 
cating oils  and  paraffin  wax) ...  25 . 3  "  * ' 

Waste  (including  coke,  tar  and  heavy 

residuum) 34.4    "     " 


100.0 

Few  raw  materials  yield  as  many  products  minis- 
tering to  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  men  as  does 
the  rank-smelling  crude  petroleum.  The  benefits  of 
cheap  illuminating  oil  can  hardly  be  overestimated. 
The  lighter  oils  are  used  to  mix  the  paints  with  which 
we  adorn  our  homes,  and  the  heavier  vaseline  is  used 
to  anoint  our  heads.  Thick,  black  oils  are  used  to 
lubricate  car-axles  and  other  heavy  machinery,  and 
white  paraffin  forms  the  basis  of  chewing  gum.  As 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 


155 


solid  paraffin,  as  liquid  oil,  as  gaseous  gasoline, 
petroleum  affords  us  both  heat  and  light.  As  naphtha 
and  benzine,  it  is  used  as  a  solvent  of  fats. 

Production, — The  following  tables  show  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  oil  industry  : 

PRODUCTION  OF  CANADIAN  OIL  REFINERIES. 


PRODUCTS 

18 

95. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Illuminating  oils 

.  .  .  .  gallons 

10  711  000 

$1  217  000 

Benzine  and  naphtha   

« 

642  000 

63  000 

Paraffin  oils 

« 

1  016  000 

140  000 

Gas  and  fuel  oils 

n 

6  095  000 

219  000 

Lubricating  oils  and  tar  .... 
Paraffin  wax 

a 
pounds 

1,699,000 
1  840  000 

76,000 
83  000 

Axle-grease  .      .            

14 

8  000 

ci  COB  000 

Total  crude  oil  used  .  .  . 

gallons 

24  955  000 

IMPORTS  AND  EXPORTS  OF  OIL  AND  ITS  PRODUCTS. 

1895. 


IMPORTS. 

EXPORTS. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Value. 

Illuminating  oils  .  . 

.   gallons 

6,471,000 
1,107,000 
164,000 
19,000 

|  $525,000 

12,000 
2,500 

$3,000 

Crude  and  lubricating 
Paraffin  wax  
Paraffin  wax  candles. 

oils     " 
.  .  pounds 

(( 

156  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

PRODUCTION  OF  PETROLEUM  IN  THE  WORLD,  1894. 
In  Metric  Tons  of  2,204  Ibs. 

1.  United  States 6,158,000 

2.  Russia 4,873,000 

3.  Austria 132,000 

4.  Canada 116,000 

5.  Roumania    75,000 

6.  India  (1893) 31,000 

7.  Germany 17,000 

8.  Japan 15,000 

9.  Italy 3,000 

— RothwelVs  "Mm.  Industry."" 

LITERATURE.— Ontario  :  Geol.  Sur.  Reports,  1863,  1866,  Q,  S 
and  S  S,  V.  1890-91 ;  Min.  Res.  Ont.,  1890.  Gaspe  :  Geol.  Sur. 
K,  1888.  Kootenay  :  Geol.  Sur.  1891,  9  A.  Athabasca  :  Geol. 
Sur.,  144  S,  1890-91.  Bibliography  :  Rep.  Q,  1890  ;  Canadian 
Mining  Manual,  1896.  For  complete  description  of  the  petro- 
leum industry,  see  Crew,  "Practical  Treatise  on  Petroleum," 
1887.  For  geology  of  petroleum,  see  Orton,  An.  Rep.  U.  S. 
Geol.  Sur.,  1889. 

NATURAL    GAS. 

Burning  springs  have  been  known  in  many  localities 
in  North  America  from  the  earliest  settlement,  but 
with  few  exceptions,  as  at  Fredonia,  N.Y.,  no  use  was 
made  of  them.  After  the  discovery  of  oil,  large 
quantities  of  gas  were  frequently  found  in  drilling  for 
the  former.  For  a  number  of  years,  however,  even 
these  bountiful  supplies  failed  to  attract  attention.  In 
1879  gas  was  introduced  into  a  Pittsburg  factory,  and 
from  that  time  on  its  economic  importance  has  been 
fully  recognized  and  deposits  of  it  eagerly  sought. 
Few  parts  of  North  America  are  entirely  destitute  of 
reservoirs  of  gas,  but  the  productive  wells  are  almost 
entirely  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana 
and  Ontario.  Some  gas  fields  are  intimately  associated 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 


157 


with  petroleum  deposits,  and  the  gas  is  doubtless  of  the 
same  origin.  In  Ohio  the  Trenton  limestone  is  the 
great  reservoir,  but  in  Ontario  that  formation  is  almost 
barren.  It  is  in  the  Medina  and  Clinton  divisions  of 
the  Upper  Silurian  that  the  Ontario  gas  is  found. 
The  Pennsylvania  gas  occurs  in  a  still  later  formation — 
that  of  the  Upper  Devonian.  A  small  amount  of  gas 
is  found  in  the  Cretaceous  of  the  North- West. 

Gas,  like  oil,  has  accumulated  in  porous  rocks  or 
under  the  arch  of  an  anticline,  overlaid  by  an  imper- 
vious layer  of  shale  or  clay.  It  is  the  product  of  the  dis- 
tillation of  plants  and  animals  entombed  in  a 
sedimentary  deposit.  The  distillation  has  gone  on 
slowly  for  ages,  the  gas  accumulating  under  pressure. 
Ori  tapping  the  reservoir  pressure  is  relieved  and  the 
gas  escapes.  Millions  of  cubic  feet  have  been  wasted, 
people  not  realizing  that  it  was  a  store  easily 
exhausted.  This  is  well  shown  in  the  case  of  Penn- 
sylvania, whose  production  has  fallen  from  $18,000,000 
in  1888  to  $8,000,000  in  1891.  Natural  gas  is  a  mix- 
ture of  a  number  of  gases,  most  of  which  are  found  in 
ordinary  illuminating  gases  but  in  a  different  propor- 
tion. The  following  analyses  from  Sexton's  "  Fuel  " 
will  make  this  relation  clear : 


— 

Natural 
Gas. 

ILLUMINATING  GAS. 

Coal  Gas. 

Water  Gas. 

Carbon  dioxid  and  nitrogen  .... 
Marsh  gas,  CH4  

1.3 
95.2 
0.5 
1.0 
2.0 

2.1 
51.2 
13.1 

7.8 
25.8 

2.6 

'  20'.  2 

77.2 

Heavy  hydrocarbons  CnH2n   .  .  . 
Carbon  monoxid  CO  

Hydrogen 

11 


8  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

Canadian  Localities. — Small  quantities  of  gas 
from  superficial  deposits  are  found  in  many  parts  of 
the  Dominion.  In  the  North- West  Territories  some 
paying  wells  have  been  opened  along  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  and  on  the  Athabasca  promising 
indications  are  found.  The  only  localities  of  impor- 
tance at  present  are  in  Ontario  near  the  shore  of  Lake 
Erie.  The  Essex  field  extends  east  and  west  for  a 
distance  of  twelve  miles  along  the  coast  and  for  about 
two  miles  back.  The  wells  are  a  little  over  1,000  feet 
in  depth,  and  yield  from  nothing  up  to  10,000,000 
cubic  feet  a  day.  Two  pipe  lines  carry  the  gas  thirty 
miles  to  Windsor  and  Detroit. 

The  other  district  extends  forty-five  miles  east- 
ward from  Cayuga  nearly  to  the  Niagara  River.  The 
gas  is  found  in  Medina  sandstone  at  a  depth  of  700  to 
850  feet,  and  issues  from  the  wells  under  a  pressure 
reaching  in  some  cases  to  500  pounds  to  the  square 
inch.  Pipe  lines  are  laid  through  the  district,  and  the 
wells  are  connected  directly  with  Buffalo,  where  most 
of  the  gas  is  consumed.  It  is  also  used  locally  for 
burning  lime  and  for  lighting  several  towns  and 
villages.  Leamington,  Ont.,  is  said  to  have  reduced 
its  rate  of  taxation  one-half  by  means  of  the  revenue 
derived  from  supplying  the  village  with  gas.  In  1895? 
123  wells  produced  in  Ontario  3,320,000  M.  cubic 
feet  of  gas  valued  at  $283,000. 

ASPHALT. 

Asphalt  or  bitumen  is  a  mixture  of  various  hydro- 
carbons, some  of  which  are  usually  oxidized.  It  is  a 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  159 

black  or  brown  solid  with  a  resinous  lustre  and  bitu- 
minous odor,  found  as  a  superficial  deposit  in  many 
parts  of  the  world,  but  usually  associated  with  bitu- 
minous rocks.  Commercial  asphalt  is  largely  brought 
from  a  pitch  lake  on  the  island  of  Trinidad.  Many 
varieties  of  asphalt  have  received  distinct  mineral- 
ogical  names :  of  these  albertite  and  maltha  occur  in 
economic  quantities  in  Canada.  All  have  been  formed 
from  petroleum  by  the  vaporisation  of  the  more 
volatile  hydrocarbons. 

The  immense  beds  of  maltha  in  Athabasca  have 
been  described  under  petroleum.  Albertite  is  a 
pitch -like  mineral  found  in  the  Lower  Carboniferous  of 
Kings  and  Albert  counties,  New  Brunswick.  At  the 
Albert  mine  it  occurred  in  an  irregular  fissure  having 
a  maximum  thickness  of  seventeen  feet.  The  veins 
are  found  in  or  near  the  Albert  shales,  a  highly  bitu- 
minous, calcareous  clay  rock  with  an  abundance  of 
fossil  fish,  and  the  mineral  has  apparently  resulted 
from  a  distillation  of  this  shale.  Its  composition, 
represented  by  58  per  cent,  of  volatile  matter  and 
42  of  fixed  carbon,  made  it  of  great  value  for  gas 
making,  and  200,000  tons  were  shipped  to  the  eastern 
United  States  for  that  purpose.  The  locality  is  now 
exhausted. 

Anthraxolite  is  a  name  applied  to  a  black  combust- 
ible, coal-like  substance  found  in  Ontario  and  Quebec, 
which  resembles  anthracite  in  general  characters.  In 
composition  it  is  essentially  carbon,  with  from  three  to 
twenty-six  per  cent,  of  volatile  matter.  It  never  occurs 
in  beds  like  coal,  but  in  fissures  in  limestones,  shales 


160  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

and  sandstones.  Dr.  Sterry  Hunt  says,  "  It  can 
scarcely  be  doubted  that  the  coaly  matters  of  the 
Quebec  group  have  resulted  from  the  slow  alteration 
of  liquid  bitumen  in  the  fissures  of  the  strata."  Some 
of  the  numerous  occurrences  may  yield  a  few  tons 
of  fuel  for  local  use.  A  vein  at  Sudbury  is  being 
exploited  for  this  purpose. 

Bituminous  shales  are  often  distilled  for  oil  and 
gas.  Works  once  existed  at  Collingwood  and  Whitby, 
Ont.,  for  this  purpose,  but  the  discovery  of  petroleum 
destroyed  the  industry.  Similar  rocks  were  at  one 
time  distilled  in  Albert  County,  N.B.,  and  in  Pictou, 
N,S.  The  former  yielded  63  gallons  of  oil  and  7,500 
feet  of  gas  to  the  ton.  When  our  petroleum  deposits 
are  exhausted  these  reservoirs  of  hydrocarbons  may 
once  more  be  of  value.  Similar  rocks  supply  con- 
siderable oil  in  Scotland,  competing  successfully  with 
American  petroleum. 

LITERATURE. — For  description  of  the  wells,  production,  etc., 
Geol.  Sur.  Reports  Q  1890,  S  1890,  SS  1891,  S  1892,  S  1894 
and  Rep.  Bur.  of  Mines,  Ont. ,  1891.  Bibliography,  Geol.  Sur. 
Q  1890.  Origin— Geol.  Sur.  Rep.Q  1890  and  Bur.  Mines,  1891. 
Nat.  gas  in  U.S.,  Ashburner,  Trans.  Am.  Inst.  Min.  Eng.  Vol. 
XIV.,  XV.,  XVI.  Asphalt,  Athabasca— Geol.  Sur.  64  D  1890, 
6  A  1894.  Albertite,  N.B.—  Dawson,  Acad.  Geol;  Geol.  Sur. 
1876-7.  Anthraxolite— Rep.  Geol.  Sur.  18  T  1888-9;  Bur. 
Mines,  Ont.,  1896. 


SECTION  III. 
ROCKS    AND    THEIR    PRODUCTS. 

CHAPTER   XIV. 
GRANITE  AND   SANDSTONE. 

AMONG  the  materials  which  the  mineral  world 
furnishes  for  man's  use,  few  are  more  important  than 
those  adapted  for  building.  True,  granite  and  clay 
and  sand  are  so  common  to  us  Canadians  that  we 
hardly  think  of  them  as  contributing  to  our  mineral 
wealth.  Nevertheless,  one-quarter  of  our  annual 
mineral  production — that  is,  a  little  over  $5,000,000 
in  value — is  derived  from  rocks.  A  rock  has  already 
been  defined  as  a  variable  mixture  of  minerals  rang- 
ing in  cohesion  from  loose  de'bris  to  the  most  compact 
stone.  Rocks  are  never  the  source  of  our  useful 
metals,  nor  do  they  as  a  general  thing  yield  us  valu- 
able chemical  products.  Their  economic  importance 
lies,  for  the  most  part,  in  their  structural  adaptability. 
No  other  material  approaches  them  in  strength  or 
durability.  The  extent  of  our  forests  and  the  conse- 
quent cheapness  of  timber  have  caused  us  to  neglect 
our  granites  and  limestones.  As  lumber  increases  in 
price  and  as  the  need  for  more  indestructible  build- 
ings grows,  there  will  doubtless  be  a  greater  employ- 


162  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

ment  of  stone.  True,  many  farm-houses  are  built  of 
boulders,  and  some  of  our  towns  are  quite  largely 
erected  from  limestone  quarried  in  the  neighborhood. 
In  both  cases  cheapness  has  been  the  only  desidera- 
tum, and  durability  and  beauty  have  been  neglected. 

Building  Stones. — That  a  rock  be  useful  as  a 
building  stone  it  is  necessary  that  it  should  be  strong 
and  durable.  It  is  also  desirable  that  it  be  easily 
quarried  and  dressed,  and  that  it  have  beauty  of  color 
and  texture.  Strength  and  durability  depend  on 
several  considerations.  The  finer  the  structure  and  the 
more  compactly  the  grains  are  consolidated  the  greater 
the  strength.  The  kind  and  amount  of  cementing 
material  exerts  a  great  influence  on  both  strength  and 
durability.  A  cement  filling  all  the  interstices  of  a 
rock  will  evidently  make  a  stronger  stone  than  one 
in  which  the  grains  are  merely  held  together  by  their 
adjacent  faces.  A  siliceous  cement  is  stronger  than 
a  calcareous  one — a  ferruginous  than  an  argillaceous. 
Again,  a  porous  rock  is  capable  of  absorbing  consider- 
able water,  and  in  our  cold  climate  this  is  a  deleterious 
property.  As  freezing  water  expands  with  enormous 
power,  the  outer  parts  of  the  stone  are  slowly  forced 
off,  and  ultimately  the  whole  crumbles.  According  to 
Merrill  a  rock  which  absorbs  10  per  cent,  of  its  weight 
of  water  in  twenty -four  hours  should  usually  be  dis- 
carded. Some  good  sandstones  approach  this  amount ; 
granites  average  perhaps  one-twentieth  as  much. 

Fineness  of  grain  and  uniformity  of  size  are  con- 
ducive to  durability.  In  a  granite,  for  instance,  under 
the  influence  of  the  sun's  heat  all  the  grains  expand. 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

And  since  the  rate  of  expansion  is  different  for  each 
of  the  ingredients,  mica,  felspar  and  quartz,  a  strain 
is  put  on  the  cementing  material.  Alternate  expansion 
and  contraction  ultimately  results  in  disintegration. 
"  Dr.  Livingstone  found  in  Africa  that  surfaces  of 
rock  which  during  the  day  were  heated  up  to  137°  F. 
cooled  so  rapidly  by  radiation  at  night  that,  unable  to 
sustain  the  strain  of  contraction,  they  split  and  threw 
off  sharp  angular  fragments  from  a  few  ounces  to 
100  or  200  pounds  in  weight."  In  burning  buildings 
the  heat  is  still  greater,  and  the  sudden  cooling  pro- 
duced by  dashes  of  cold  water  tests  a  stone  severely. 
Granite,  of  all  the  rocks,  is  the  least  fire-proof.  Marble 
and  limestone  are  the  least  affected  where  the  heat  is 
not  sufficient  to  cause  decomposition  and  where 
water  is  absent.  With  greater  heat  sandstone  is  most 
resistant. 

Another  cause  of  decay  is  the  presence  of  injurious 
accessory  minerals.  Pyrite  is  the  most  common  and  the 
most  injurious.  It  slowly  unites  with  oxygen  to  form 
the  various  oxids  and  hydroxids  known  as  rust.  In 
some  cases  only  the  beauty  of  the  stone  is  marred  ; 
in  others  its  strength  is  weakened.  Ferrous  carbonate 
and  small  seams  of  clay  are  other  deleterious  minerals. 

The  facility  with  which  a  rock  may  be  worked 
depends  on  the  hardness  of  its  constituents  and  on 
the  presence  of  joints,  beds  or  other  natural  fractures. 
A  granite  is  harder  to  work  than  a  limestone  because 
of  the  hardness  of  the  quartz  and  felspar  of  the 
former.  For  a  similar  reason,  also,  a  siliceous  sand- 
stone is  more  costly  to  market  than  an  argillaceous 


164  THE    MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

one.  A  rock  which  cleaves  regularly  in  any  direction 
can  be  more  cheaply  produced  than  one  with  an 
irregular  fracture. 

In  the  selection  of  a  building  stone  for  important 
structures  durability  is  of  prime  importance.  The 
most  reliable  information  can  be  got  by  observing  the 
effect  on  old  structures.  Failing  these,  an  examina- 
tion of  the  natural  outcrop  of  the  rock  will  yield 
information  concerning  its  weather-resisting  power. 
"  If  in  these  exposures  the  edges  and  angles  of  the 
stone  remain  sharp — if  its  surface  shows  no  sign  of 
flaking  or  crumbling,  no  cracks  nor  holes  where 
pyrites  or  clay  has  lurked,  nor  dark  stains  from  the 
change  of  iron  compounds — it  may  be  relied  upon  for 
structures  if  proper  care  is  used  to  reject  suspicious 
blocks."  Much  also  may  be  gathered  from  a  micro- 
scopic examination.  Of  secondary  importance  is  the 
strength,  though  this  is  the  property  which  is  most 
usually  tested.  Any  compact  stone  has  many  times 
the  strength  usually  required.  Imperviousness  to 
water  would  be  a  more  desirable  test.  For  piers  of 
bridges,  foundations  and  other  rough  purposes,  faults 
of  color,  coarseness  of  texture  or  irregularity  of 
fracture  are  of  no  account,  and  proximity  and  conse- 
quent cheapness  will  be  the  condition  sought. 

The  Crystalline  Rocks. — Immense  areas  of  granite 
and  allied  rocks  are  found  in  Canada — a  quantity 
sufficient  to  supply  all  the  world  with  building  stone. 
The  commercial  term  granite  includes  not  only  the 
true  granite  of  the  geologist  but  a  number  of  related 
rocks.  Syenite  has  the  general  appearance  of  a 


THE  MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CAtfAbA.  165 

granite,  but  is  without  the  quartz  of  the  latter.  Both 
have  orthoclase  felspar  and  either  mica  or  hornblende. 
Gneiss  has  the  same  minerals  but  is  schistose  in 
structure.  All  three  are  quarried  for  building  pur- 
poses, and  the  granite  and  syenite  for  monumental 
stones.  They  are  widely  distributed  through  the 
whole  Dominion,  the  region  of  the  plains  excepted. 
Granite  is  expensive  to  work,  and  has  not  yet  been 
used  to  any  extent  in  Canada  as  a  building  stone.  It 
seems,  however,  quite  unnecessary  for  us  to  import 
granite  from  Scotland  for  monuments  when  quite  as 
good  stone  surrounds  us  on  every  side.  Quarries 
have  been  opened  in  British  Columbia,  at  Kingston 
and  Gananoque,  Ont.,  in  Stanstead,  Que.,  in  New 
Brunswick  and  in  Nova  Scotia,  from  which  about 
13,000  tons  are  annually  raised,  valued  at  $70,000, 
These  granite  rocks,  as  well  as  the  more  basic  igneous 
rocks,  diorite,  anorthosite,  etc.,  are  also  used  as  paving 
stones. 

Sand  and  Sandstone.  —  The  crystalline  rocks 
slowly  disintegrate  through  the  action  of  heat,  mois- 
ture and  frost,  and  the  streams  carry  off  the  products 
to  deposit  them  ultimately  in  some  lake  or  ocean. 
The  particles  of  quartz  are  much  the  most  enduring. 
Felspar,  mica  and  hornblende  are  not  only  separated 
from  each  other  by  the  weathering  of  the  rock,  but 
are  also  decomposed.  All  three  yield  clay  and  some 
free  silica,  besides  other  minerals.  The  quartz,  though 
rounded  on  the  edges  through  long-continued  rub- 
bing, remains  pure  silica  to  the  last.  Thus  it  is  that 
most  rocks,  when  reduced  to  fine  grains,  yield  a  sand 


166  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

which  is  largely  silica.  Pure  silica  is  white,  and  the 
light  yellow  color  of  many  sands  is  due  to  stains  of 
iron  oxid  or  to  a  mixture  of  black  grains  of  the 
magnetic  oxid  of  iron.  Small  amounts  of  undecom- 
posed  mica  or  felspar  may  also  be  found.  In  a  lime- 
stone region  the  sands  may  be  calcareous.  Clay  also 
may  be  mixed  with  the  sand. 

Sands  of  all  kinds  are  widely  distributed  over  our 
country,  and  are  in  all  cases  a  superficial  deposit. 
Only  on  rocky  hills,  swept  bare  by  glacial  action,  are 
they  lacking.  Sandstones  are  but  consolidated  sands. 
They  have  been  formed  in  ancient  seas  by  the  pres- 
sure of  overlying  material,  and  have  since  been  raised 
above  the  water.  A  cement  of  iron  oxid,  silica,  clay 
or  limestone  holds  the  grains  together,  and  gives  a 
distinctive  character  to  the  rock.  Some  sandstones 
are  almost  pure  silica ;  others  through  the  presence 
of  clay  merge  into  shales  ;  others  again  shade  gradu- 
ally into  limestones.  In  some  cases  these  sandstones 
were  subjected  to  heat  as  well  as  pressure,  and  all  the 
materials  in  them  were  recrystallized.  Pure  sand, 
metamorphosed  in  this  way,  became  the  solid  white 
quartzite  so  common  in  our  Huronian  districts.  A 
sand  with  mica  became  a  mica  schist ;  one  with  fel- 
spar and  mica  became  a  gneiss,  and  so  the  cycle  was 
completed  from  igneous  rock  back  to  igneous. 

Sandstones  are  usually  bedded,  the  planes  of  strati- 
fication representing  intervals  in  the  deposit  of  sand 
on  the  ocean  floor.  The  deposit  of  one  period  became 
somewhat  consolidated  before  the  next  supply  of 
material  was  brought  down.  The  beds  are  sometimes 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF  CANADA.  167 

but  a  fraction  of  an  inch  in  thickness,  at  others  several 
feet.  The  thicker  beds  which  split  readily  in  any 
direction  are  known  as  freestone. 

In  the  very  dawn  of  geological  history  sands  were 
being  deposited  in  Canada  as  they  are  to-day.  Con- 
solidated and  metamorphosed  they  form  the  quartzite 
of  the  Huronian.  Above  them  lie  sandstones  of 
Cambrian  age.  Silurian,  Devonian,  Carboniferous, 
Triassic,  Cretaceous  and  Miocene  times  contributed 
their  quota  of  sandy  sediments.  So  through  the 
whole  Dominion  sandstones  are  abundant  and  cheap. 
They  are  used  extensively  for  building ;  also  as  flag- 
stones, furnace  linings,  grindstones  and  whetstones. 
As  powdered  stone  or  as  the  natural  sand,  quartz  is 
also  used  for  mortar,  glass,  moulding  and  polishing. 

Building  Stone. — In  the  Maritime  Provinces  there 
are  considerable  areas  of  good  freestone  in  the  Lower 
Carboniferous  rocks.  The  stone  is  soft  enough  to  be 
readily  cut  when  first  quarried,  but  hardens  on  ex- 
posure. Red,  yellow,  light  grey  and  beautiful  olive- 
green  beds  are  found.  The  stone  is  not  only  used 
domestically  but  also  exported.  The  chief  quarries 
are  at  Dorchester,  Hopewell,  and  neighboring  locali- 
ties in  Westmoreland  and  Albert  counties,  New 
Brunswick.  Amherst,  Wallace  and  Pictou  in  Nova 
Scotia  also  produce  good  stone,  some  of  which  is 
exported.  The  magnificent  court-house  of  Toronto, 
Ontario,  is  constructed  of  New  Brunswick  stone. 

In  Quebec  a  sandstone  of  the  Potsdam  or  Upper 
Cambrian  period  affords  an  excellent  building  stone. 
It  is  almost  white  in  color  and  very  hard  and  durable. 


168  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

It  is  quarried,  among  other  places,  at  St.  Scholastique 
and  at  Hemmingford,  and  used  in  Montreal.  It  has 
also  been  used  successfully  at  St.  Maurice  as  a  furnace 
lining.  Near  Quebec  and  Levis  the  Sillery  sandstone 
is  quarried  and  used  quite  extensively  in  both  cities. 
It  is  usually  a  green  or  greyish- green  rock,  though 
on  the  coast  below  L'Islet  there  are  beds  of  a 
purplish-red  color.  The  rock  does  not  weather  uni- 
formly, nor  is  it  as  durable  as  the  Potsdam  stone. 
Some  Silurian  sandstones  have  been  quarried  in 
Gasps'  for  railway  work. 

The  Potsdam  sandstone  of  Quebec  occurs  on  the 
south  of  the  Ottawa  River  in  Ontario,  and  here,  also, 
has  been  extensively  used.  Considerable  was  quar- 
ried in  Nepean  township  for  the  national  Parliament 
Buildings  at  Ottawa.  Farther  to  the  west  a  band  of 
Medina  sandstone  outcrops  along  the  Niagara  es- 
carpment, which  stretches  from  Queenston  Heights 
past  Hamilton  to  Cabot's  Head.  It  is  quarried  at  a 
number  of  places,  principally  along  the  Credit  River. 
The  stone  occurs  in  both  white  and  red  beds,  the 
latter  being  the  more  valuable.  It  is  very  extensively 
used  in  western  Ontario — the  Parliament  Buildings 
at  Toronto  being  a  good  example  of  the  appearance 
of  the  red  variety.  A  similar  red  stone  of  Cambrian 
age  occurs  in  the  Nipigon  formation  on  the  north- 
west of  Lake  Superior.  It  has  been  shipped  from 
Verte  Island  to  Chicago  and  other  lake  cities. 

In  British  Columbia  freestone  of  Cretaceous  age 
may  be  quarried  at  many  points  along  the  coast. 
Some  excellent  material  for  building  has  been  ob- 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  169 

tained  near  Nanaimo.  A  white  freestone  of  the 
same  age  is  quarried  at  Calgary,  Alberta. 

Other  Uses. — Flagstones  have  been  obtained  at 
most  of  the  localities  just  described,  and  at  many 
others.  Material  suitable  for  grindstones  has  been 
quarried  at  Seaman's  Cove  and  other  points  in  Nova 
Scotia,  and  in  Albert  and  Westmoreland  counties, 
New  Brunswick.  Some  grindstones  and  coarse  whet- 
stones are  made  from  the  Medina  in  Nottawasaga, 
Ontario,  and  the  Cretaceous  of  Nanaimo,  British 
Columbia,  is  used  for  the  same  purpose.  The  total 
annual  production  of  grindstones  is  valued  at  about 
$40,000,  of  which  one-half  is  exported,  chiefly  from 
Nova  Scotia.  The  imports  about  equal  the  exports. 

Sand  for  mortar-making  should  consist  of  sharp 
angular  grains  of  quartz  of  somewhat  coarse  texture. 
When  an  impure  mixture  of  sand  and  clay  is  used 
the  mortar  frequently  crumbles.  Good  material  is 
widely  distributed  in  the  superficial  deposits. 

Sand  for  moulding  is  not  at  all  plentiful.  It  is  an 
"  intimate  mixture  of  quartz  sand  with  just  sufficient 
proportions  of  clay  and  ochre  to  enable  it  to  retain 
the  form  given  by  the  pattern."  A  good  moulding 
sand  contains  about  92  per  cent,  of  fine  quartz 
sand,  6  per  cent,  of  clay,  and  2  per  cent,  of  iron 
oxid.  For  fine  castings,  artificial  mixtures  are  often 
prepared.  Suitable  sand  is  found  at  several  places  in 
Ontario  and  Nova  Scotia.  From  Windsor,  N.S., 
a  small  amount  is  annually  exported. 

Ordinary  glass  is  made  from  quartz  sand,  sodium 
carbonate  and  lime.  Except  for  the  coarser  varieties 


170  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

of  glass,  a  fine,  angular  white  sand  is  needed,  free 
from  all  impurities,  especially  iron.  Ordinary  bottles 
have  a  green  tint  due  to  the  iron  of  the  sand.  Many 
pure  sands  are  found  in  the  Dominion,  and  several 
sandstones  could  be  crushed  and  used.  The  Potsdam 
sandstone  was  at  one  time  used  at  Vaudreuil. 

Sand  is  further  used  as  an  abrasive  in  sawing  and 
polishing  sandstone  and  marble.  Tripolite,  or 
infusorial  earth,  is  also  used  as  a  polishing  material 
under  the  name  of  "  silex,  electro-silicon,"  etc.  It 
consists  of  the  microscopic  siliceous  shells  of  diatoms 
and  other  minute  water  plants.  Though  each  indi- 
vidual was  so  small,  beds  thirty  feet  thick  have  been 
formed  extending  over  considerable  areas.  Many 
deposits  are  known  in  Canada,  from  which  over  600 
tons  valued  at  $10,000  were  taken  in  1896.  Tripolite 
was  at  one  time  used  as  an  absorbent  of  nitro- 
glycerine, and  is  now  employed  in  the  manufacture 
of  water  filters. 

LITERATURE. — Merrill,  "  Stones  for  Building  and  Decoration," 
gives  a  full  account  of  the  properties  of  building  stones  and  of 
methods  of  working.  For  details  of  Canadian  quarries,  see 
Dawson,  Acadian  Geology;  Geol.  Can.,  1863;  Min.  Res.  Ont., 
1890;  Bur.  Mines,  Ont.,  1891;  Rep.  R.,  Geol.  Sur.,  1887; 
Rep.  S.,  1894.  For  localities  of  various  sands,  tripolite,  etc., 
see  Cat.  Sec.  1  of  the  Museum  of  the  Geol.  Sur. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

OLA  Y  AND    SLATE. 

AMONG  mineral  materials  few  are  more  important 
than  common  clay,  although  it  is  so  widely  distributed 
that  we  often  forget  our  great  dependence  upon  it 
It  ministers  to  our  wants  in  numerous  and  in  very 
diverse  ways,  the  products  often  bearing  no  apparent 
relationship  to  one  another.  Sun-dried  bricks  and 
porcelain  dishes  are  entirely  different  in  appearance. 
Clear,  transparent  china  bears  little  resemblance  to 
drain-tile,  and  yet  all  four  are  essentially  the  one 
thing — clay.  The  manufacture  of  rude  pottery  was 
one  of  the  first  arts  practised  in  the  dawn  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  ceramics  has  advanced  step  by  step  with 
man's  development.  The  value  of  our  clay  output 
to-day  is  only  exceeded  by  that  of  our'  coal. 

Origin  and  Composition, — Clay  is  not  an  original 
mineral,  but  the  product  of  decay — the  result  of  the 
passage  from  an  unstable  compound  to  a  stable  one. 
The  felspars  which  are  found  abundantly  in  igneous 
rocks  are  easily  attacked  by  water  and  carbonic  acid. 
They  are  all  silicates  of  aluminum,  with  potassium, 
sodium  or  calcium.  The  potassium  felspar,  orthoclase, 
is  the  most  abundant.  This  mineral,  and  the  others 


172  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

as  well,  lose  their  alkaline  constituents  together  with 
some  of  their  silica,  and  take  up  water.  The  alkali 
goes  off  in  solution,  and  the  silica  and  hydrous  silicate 
of  aluminum  are  left.  This  last,  when*  pure,  is  known 
as  kaolin.  Its  composition  is  represented  by  H2A12 
(SiO4)2  +  H2O,  or  silica  47,  alumina  39,  water  14 
per  cent.  Usually  there  is  mixed  with  it  some  quartz 
and  mica  of  the  rock,  some  undecomposed  felspar  par- 
ticles, and  some  oxid  of  iron,  calcium  carbonate  and 
alkalies,  the  accessory  products  of  decomposition. 
Commercial  clay  may  be  the  pure  kaolin  or  any  of 
the  numerous  mixtures  possible.  In  some  of  the  best 
clays  kaolin  is  much  the  largest  ingredient ;  in  others, 
considerably  less  than  half.  It  is  the  essential  con- 
stituent— the  other  minerals  are  but  accessories,  and 
often  injurious  ones.  Quartz,  in  the  form  of  fine 
sand  intimately  mixed  with  the  kaolin,  is  the  most 
common  impurity.  By  itself  in  a  clay,  silica  is 
chemically  inert  but  acts  physically,  checking  shrink- 
age and  cracking  when  the  kaolin  is  highly  heated. 
When  potash,  soda  or  lime  are  present  the  silica  unites 
chemically  with  them  at  high  temperatures,  forming 
fusible  compounds  which  give  strength  and  hardness 
to  the  pottery.  Some  of  these  alkalies  are  nearly 
always  present — potash  most  commonly.  Magnesia 
often  replaces  lime.  Iron,  either  as  an  oxid,  carbonate 
or  sulfid,  is  the  most  undesirable  impurity  and  is 
nearly  always  present.  Sometimes  it  does  not  con- 
stitute more  than  one-fifth  of  1  per  cent. ;  more 
frequently  it  makes  two  to  ten  per  cent,  or  more  of 
the  clay. 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  173 

Clays  resulting  from  the  decomposition  of  felspars 
in  place  are  classed  as  residual  clays.  They  nearly 
all  contain  quartz,  which  is  easily  removed  by  wash- 
ing. They  often  exist  as  a  crumbling  rock  resem- 
bling granite.  The  chief  characteristic  of  this  residual, 
or  rock,  kaolin  is  its  non-plasticity.  These  residual 
clays  are,  of  course,  subject  to  the  erosive  and  trans- 
porting action  of  water,  and  immense  beds  of  sedi- 
mentary clays  have  been  deposited  in  quiet  waters 
since  the  beginning  of  geological  history.  They  are 
always  more  or  less  impure  and  are  generally  highly 
plastic,  a  property  probably  due  to  the  rubbing  the 
particles  have  undergone.  They  form  the  chief  basis 
of  the  world's  clay  industries. 

Those  deposited  in  Paleozoic  times  have,  for  the 
most  part,  been  consolidated  into  shales,  and  many  of 
them  have  even  been  metamorphosed  into  slates. 
The  latter  have  ceased  to  have  a  value  in  ceramics, 
but  the  former  are  very  widely  used,  after  being 
ground  and  allowed  to  weather.  The  Carboniferous 
period  furnishes  a  valuable  refractory  clay.  Creta- 
ceous, Tertiary  and  Quaternary  clays  are  extensively 
used  in  America.  In  the  last  era  ice,  not  water,  was 
instrumental  in  producing  deposits  of  clay  which  are 
not  residual.  Boulder  clay,  as  it  is  called  from  the 
angular  stones  it  contains,  resembles  sedimentary 
clay  in  its  composition  and  properties,  but  lacks 
stratification. 

Uses. — "  The  chief  function  of  clay  in  the  fictile 
arts  is  its  partial  fusion  upon  firing,  and  upon  this 
and  the  skill  of  the  artisan  who  fires  the  kiln  depends 
12 


174  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

the  product,  which  is  wonderfully  varied  by  the 
mixtures  of  fluxes  and  tempering  material.  Plasticity 
is  desirable  for  the  handling  of  the  unfired  material. 
Nearly  all  unconsolidated  or  powdered  rock  material 
may  be  made  to  adhere  by  water  and  other  ingredi- 
ents than  clay,  so  that  it  can  be  shaped  for  burning, 
but  plastic  clay  is  the  cheapest  material  used  for  this 
purpose  in  all  clay-burning."  (Hill,  Min.  Res.  U.S., 
1891.)  Clay  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  a  number 
of  domestic  utensils,  as  porcelain,  China  and  earthen 
ware.  As  a  structural  material  it  finds  employment 
as  brick,  terra  cotta,  roofing  tile,  draining  tile,  door 
knobs  and  sewer  pipe.  In  the  industrial  arts  it  is 
used  as  a  lining  for  kilns,  furnaces  and  retorts ;  for 
crucibles,  for  moulding-material,  as  a  base  for  pig- 
ments, for  filling  paper,  and  even  as  a  food  adulterant. 
Commercially  clay  may  be  divided  into  four  classes, 
depending  partly  on  composition  and  partly  on  use. 
Chemical  composition  is  not  the  sole  guide  in  deter- 
mining the  value  of  a  clay,  for  those  almost  identical 
in  composition  often  yield  different  products  on 
firing. 

1.  China  clays  are  nearly  pure  kaolin   and  non- 
plastic.     They  are  nearly  always  ground  and  washed 
before  use,  but  should  be  free  from  iron  and  lirne. 
Mixed  with  felspar  and  silica  they  are  used  to  make 
China  ware.     Cornwall,  Limoges  in  France,  and  Dres- 
den in  Germany  have  important   deposits    of  these 
rare  clays. 

2.  Plastic,  ball  or   pottery  clays  are  the   essential 
material   of    bricks,   pottery    and    stone   ware.     The 


THE   MINERAL    WEALTH   OF    CANADA.  175 

purer  ones  are  China  clays  in  composition,  but  will 
not  yield  the  same  products  on  firing.  These  clays 
are  used  in  the  production  of  earthen  ware,  etc.,  and 
to  give  plasticity  to  China  clays  in  the  manufacture 
of  China  ware.  Deposits  near  St.  John,  Que.,  are 
used  extensively  in  the  production  of  porcelain. 

3.  Brick  clays  include  those  suited  not  only  for 
the  manufacture  of  bricks,  but  also  of  drain  tile  and 
the  cruder  kinds  of  stone  ware.  They  are  most 
widely  distributed  of  all,  and,  probably,  are  most 
important  economically.  Ideal  brick  clay  consists  of 
a  mixture  of  fine  sand  and  pure  plastic  clay,  the  pro- 
portions of  which  may  vary  very  widely.  A  good 
clay  consists  of  three-fifths  silica,  one-fifth  alumina, 
and  the  remainder  of  iron,  lime,  soda,  potash,  mag- 
nesia and  water. 

Iron  is  present  in  most  brick  clays  and  is  the  basis 
of  color.  Red  bricks  are  produced  from  white  clay 
by  the  oxidation  of  the  iron  from  the  ferrous  to  the 
ferric  compound.  Still,  as  is  well  known,  the  color 
may  be  modified  by  differences  in  the  temperature  of 
the  kiln.  White  bricks  are  often  supposed  to  be  due 
to  the  lack  of  iron  in  the  clay,  but  the  correct  reason 
seems  to  be  that  these  clays  contain  lime  or  magnesia, 
which  unites  with  the  iron  and  with  silica  to  form  a 
colorless  silicate. 

Vitrified  bricks  are  being  introduced  into  Canada 
as  a  paving  material.  They  offer  all  the  advantages 
of  asphalt  and  are  considerably  cheaper.  A  vitrified 
brick  may  be  described  as  a  piece  of  clay  heated  to 
incipient  fusion,  so  that  all  the  particles  have  been 


176  THE    MINERAL   WEALTH    OF    CANADA. 

fritted  together  and  the  pores  have  become  closed. 
Its  excellence  is  measured  by  the  degree  with  which 
water  is  excluded.  To  be  suitable  for  this  purpose  a 
clay  must  agglutinate  or  vitrify  some  distance  below 
its  point  of  fusion,  otherwise  in  the  firing  much  of 
the  product  will  be  destroyed  by  melting.  Several 
companies  are  making  these  bricks  near  Toronto. 

All  of  these  clays  are  widely  distributed  through 
the  Dominion.  The  shales  of  the  Hudson  River 
and  Medina  epochs  are  used  in  Ontario  to  make  a 
very  fine  pressed  brick.  Sewer  pipe,  drain  tile  and 
p6ttery  are  made  at  so  many  points  that  it  is  useless 
to  enumerate. 

4.  The  refractory,  or  fire-clays,  form  the  last  divi- 
sion. Alkaline  fluxes  are  here  present  in  very  small 
quantities.  Pure  kaolins  are  desirable  as  the  base  of 
the  mixture,  which  is  usually  made  artificially.  The 
Cretaceous  clays  of  New  Jersey  and  the  Carboniferous 
under-clays  are  often  suitable.  A  number  of  fire- 
clays of  fair  value  occur  in  the  rocks  of  the  latter 
period  in  Nova  Scotia. 

The  production  of  these  materials  in  1895  was 
valued,  as  follows  :  Building  brick,  $1,670,000;  terra 
cotta,  $195,100;  sewer  pipe,  etc.,  $257,000;  pottery, 
$151,600;  fire-clay,  $3,500;  a  total  of  $2,277,200. 
In  the  same  year  the  imports  amounted  to  $593,300, 
most  of  which  was  for  earthen  ware. 

Slate. — When  a  bed  of  clay  or  shale  is  subjected  to 
great  pressure  and  heat  its  physical  characters  are 
changed.  The  laminae  become  smooth  and  hard,  and 
microscopic  crystals  are  often  developed  throughout 


THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  17*7 

the  fragmental  material.     Minute  flakes  of  mica  are 

O 

usually  present,  their  flat  surfaces  being  parallel  to  the 
face  of  the  lamina.  The  well-developed  cleavage  is 
rarely  parallel  to  the  original  plane  of  bedding,  but 
is  at  right  angles  to  the  direction  from  which  the 
pressure  came.  Under  this  pressure  the  component 
grains  of  the  original  sediment  rearranged  them- 
selves with  their  longest  axes  at  right  angles  to 
the  direction  of  force,  and  so  made  new  planes  of 
cleavage. 

A  number  of  varieties  of  clay  slate  are  recognized. 
Roofing  slate  includes  the  finest-grained,  compact 
kinds  used  for  roofing  houses,  for  mantels  and  table- 
tops,  for  slates  and  pencils,  etc.  Whet-slate  or  hone- 
stone  is  a  hard,  fine-grained  siliceous  rock.  Phyllites 
embrace  the  thoroughly  metamorphosed  shales  char- 
acterized by  the  development  of  much  mica  and  the 
recrystallization  of  the  materials. 

These  slates  are  found  in  the  majority  of  the 
geological  horizons,  but  the  Huronian,  Cambrian, 
Silurian  and  Devonian  formations  contain  them  most 
frequently.  Good  roofing  slates  are  found  in  Canada 
in  the  Cambrian  rocks,  east  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 
Quarries  are  worked  at  New  Rockland,  Shipton,  and 
near  Richmond,  all  in  Richmond  county,  Quebec.  A 
number  of  other  quarries  have  been  opened  in  neigh- 
boring counties,  but  the  demand  does  not  justify  their 
operation.  The  usual  color  is  dark  or  bluish-grey, 
but  green,  red  and  purple  ones  are  found.  The  best 
class  cleave  readily,  are  "  free  from  pyrites,  imper- 
vious to  water,  and  equal  in  every  respect  to  the 


178  THE    MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

celebrated  Welsh  slates."  Roofing  slates,  slabs  and 
school  slates  are  produced  in  this  district.  The  pro- 
duct in  1895  was  valued  at  $59,000,  about  one-half 
that  of  1889.  The  imports  in  1895  amounted  to 
$19,000,  also  about  half  of  the  corresponding  figures 
for  1889.  A  small  amount  is  annually  exported. 

LITERATURE. — "Clay  Materials,"  by  Hill,  in  Min.  Resources 
of  U.S.,  1891,  contains  a  good  description  of  the  kinds  and  uses 
of  clay.  See  also  Geol.  Can.,  1863.  " Brick  Clays  of  Que.," 
Rep.  Geol.  Sur.,  IV.  188  K ;  "Brick  Clays  of  Ont,,"  Bur.  of 
Mines  Rep.,  1891,  1893,  1895.  The  report  of  1893  contains  a 
chapter  on  vitrified  brick.  "Fire  Clay  of  N.S.,"  Rep.  Geol. 
Sur.,  V.  1890,  190  P;  "Slate  of  Que."  Rep.  Geol.  Sur.,  IV. 
1888  K. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 
LIMESTONE. 

Origin  and  Occurrence.— Limestone  is  one  of  the 
most  widely  distributed  rocks  occurring  in  all  the 
sedimentary  formations  from  the  Cambrian  down  to 
recent  times.  It  is  found  even  in  Archaean  areas  as 
great  bands  of  crystalline  material  which  are  meta- 
morphosed sediments.  Geographically  its  distribu- 
tion is  as  wide  as  it  is  geologically,  and  every 
province  but  Prince  Edward  Island  has  its  own 
supplies.  The  only  large  areas  of  the  Dominion 
destitute  of  it  are  some  of  the  districts  covered  by 
the  igneous  Archaean  rocks. 

It  has  always  been  deposited  as  a  sediment,  some- 
times as  a  chemical  precipitate,  much  more  frequently 
as  a  bed  composed  of  the  fragments  of  the  shells 
and  skeletons  of  lime-secreting  animals.  As  is  well 
known,  gravel  and  sand  derived  from  the  land  are 
deposited  near  the  shore  and  the  lighter  mud  carried 
farther  out.  Beyond  this,  where  sediments  from  the 
land  were  rarely  brought,  the  bottom  of  the  old  ocean 
beds  was  slowly  built  up  by  the  calcareous  remains 
of  dead  molluscs,  crinoids,  corals  and  other  organisms. 
The  process  can  be  watched  to-day  on  the  coast  of 


180  THE    MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

Florida,  and  time  and  the  pressure  of  superin- 
cumbent beds  are  alone  needed  to  transform  the 
loose  shell  deposits  of  that  peninsula  into  solid  lime- 
stone. Consolidation  and  recrystallization  are  pro- 
moted by  the  easy  solution  and  precipitation  of 
calcium  carbonate  in  waters  carrying  carbonic  acid. 

Often  these  deposits  were  made  when  mud  or  sand 
was  being  laid  down,  so  that  beds  of  limestone  and 
shale  or  of  limestone  and  sandstone  are  now  found 
to  alternate  with  one  another,  and  even  to  pass  by 
gradual  changes  from  one  into  the  other.  A  pure 
limestone  consists  of  calcium  and  carbonic  acid,  that 
is,  it  is  the  mineral  calcite  (CaC03).  Frequently  the 
calcite  is  replaced  by  dolomite,  an  isomorphous  mix- 
ture of  calcium  and  magnesium  carbonates.  Silica, 
clay,  oxids  of  iron  and  bituminous  matter  are  often 
present  as  impurities.  The  color  is  commonly  a  dull 
white  to  a  blue-grey,  but  may  be  brown  or  black. 
Few  rocks  vary  more  in  texture  than  limestone.  It 
may  be  a  hard  compact  rock  with  a  choncoidal  frac- 
ture; it  may  consist  of  crystalline  grains  resembling- 
loaf  sugar  in  texture  and  color ;  it  may  be  an  earthy, 
friable  deposit,  or  a  compact  rock  resembling  a  close- 
grained  sandstone.  In  all  cases  it  is  easily  scratched 
with  a  knife,  and  gives  a  vigorous  effervescence  when 
treated  with  hydrochloric  acid. 

Uses. — Limestone  is  probably  the  most  valuable  of 
all  our  structural  materials,  for  not  only  is  it  an 
excellent  building  stone  itself,  but  it  also  affords  the 
most  useful  cement  for  holding  all  other  building 
materials  together.  It  is  employed  not  only  in  the 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH    OF   CANADA.  181 

farm-house  but  in  the  city  cathedral ;  it  is  used  not 
only  for  the  outer  walls  but  also  as  marble  for  the 
decoration  of  the  interior.  It  is  used  for  bridges  and 
culverts  in  railway  construction,  and  for  the  concrete 
foundations  of  city  pavements.  As  a  flux  in  the 
smelting  of  iron  it  finds  a  large  employment,  over 
30,000  tons  being  annually  used  in  Canada  alone, 
where  the  iron  industry  is  not  a  large  one.  Some 
fine  varieties  are  used  as  lithographic  stones.  Marl, 
an  amorphous  mixture  of  calcium  carbonate,  clay 
and  sand  is  a  valuable  fertilizer.  (See  Chapter  XVII.) 
Chalk,  a  soft  earthy  variety  of  limestone  not  found 
in  Canada,  is  used  by  carpenters  and  others  for 
marking;  perfectly  purified  and  mixed  with  vege- 
table coloring  matters,  it  forms  pastil  colors.  Whiting 
is  a  purified  chalk  used  as  a  pigment  and  as  a  polish- 
ing material. 

The  desirable  qualities  in  a  limestone  to  be  used 
for  structural  purposes  have  already  been  pointed  out 
(Chapter  XIV.),  and  it  is  only  necessary  to  indicate 
here  some  of  the  important  localities  where  stone 
occurs.  Limestone  is  so  widely  distributed  through- 
out the  Palseozoic  areas  of  southern  Ontario  and 
Quebec,  and  of  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick,  that 
it  is  useless  to  attempt  an  enumeration  of  the  places 
where  it  is  quarried.  The  lowest  horizon  to  furnish 
valuable  stone  is  the  Chazy,  which  is  extensively 
quarried  at  St.  Dominique,  Phillipsburg  and  Montreal 
Island.  The  Trenton  limestones,  occurring  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Montreal,  also  furnish  that  city  with 
excellent  building  stone.  In  Ontario,  the  Niagara 


182  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

formation  is  worked  at  a  number  of  places  along  the 
escarpment  which  enters  the  Province  at  Queenston 
and  passes  by  Hamilton  and  Owen  Sound  to  Mani- 
toulin  Island  and  into  Michigan.  Stone  from  Queen- 
ston, Thorold,  Beamsville  and  Grimsby  has  been 
extensively  used  in  the  Welland  canal,  the  St.  Clair 
tunnel,  and  railway  construction  throughout  the  Pro- 
vince. The  Corniferous  also  gives  a  valuable  stone 
where  exposed.  Quarries  near  Amherstburg  furnished 
material  for  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie  canal.  In  Nova 
Scotia  and  New  Brunswick  Carboniferous  limestone 
of  excellent  quality  is  widely  spread,  and  is  quarried 
in  a  number  of  places. 

Marble. — The  term  marble  is  properly  applied 
to  a  crystalline  aggregate  of  calcite  grains  of  uniform 
size,  and  each  of  which  is  composed  of  twin  crystals 
with  their  own  cleavage  lines.  It  has  been  produced 
by  the  recrystallization  of  ordinary  sedimentary  lime- 
stone in  situ,  occasioned  by  the  heat  of  eruptive  rocks 
and  the  pressure  of  overlying  masses.  Typical  mar- 
ble is  white,  but  it  may  be  yellow,  green,  blue,  black, 
banded  or  mottled.  Sometimes  it  is  very  fine-grained, 
as  in  the  best  statuary  marbles ;  again  it  may  be  so 
coarse  as  not  to  take  a  good  polish,  and  so  be  useless 
for  ornamental  purposes.  Mica,  garnet,  tremolite  and 
many  other  species  of  silicates  are  frequently  found 
in  it,  a  result  of  the  recrystallization  of  sand  and  clay 
impurities  in  the  original  limestone. 

Commercially,  the  term  marble  is  applied  to  any  lime- 
stone, crystalline  or  non- crystalline,  which  is  suscep- 
tible of  a  polish,  and  is  suited  in  texture  and  color  for 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  183 

ornamental  work.  It  is  even  made  to  include  serpen- 
tine, when  this  magnesium  silicate  is  found  in  masses 
suitable  for  decoration.  On  the  contrary,  impure 
marbles  and  those  of  too  coarse  grain  to  be  of  value 
for  decorative  work  are  classed  as  limestones,  and 
used  for  structural  purposes. 

True  marbles  are  found  in  regions  of  metamorphism, 
particularly  in  the  Laurentian  areas  in  Canada- 
From  the  Georgian  Bay  east  to  the  Ottawa  valley  are 
scores  of  bands  of  crystalline  limestone  interbedded, 
with  gneiss  and  other  schists.  These  have  been 
worked  to  a  small  extent  at  a  number  of  places,  as  at 
Madoc,  Bridgewater,  Renfrew  and  Arnprior  in  Ontario. 
Across  the  Ottawa  it  is  found  in  Hull,  Grenville  and 
other  places.  A  very  fine  marble  of  similar  age  is 
quarried  at  West  Bay,  Cape  Breton.  At  Echo  Lake, 
near  the  St.  Mary  River,  Ontario,  a  close-grained  lime- 
stone of  Huronian  age  has  been  worked  to  some 
extent.  It  is  composed  of  thin,  alternate  bands  of 
grey  and  colored  stone,  and  takes  an  excellent  polish. 
In  the  metamorphic  rocks  of  the  Eastern  Townships 
marble  is  quarried  for  local  use  at  several  places.  At 
Dudswell  a  rock  of  Silurian  age  is  entirely  composed 
of  organic  remains,  principally  corals,  which  when 
polished  presents  a  beautifully  marked  surface.  The 
Eozoon  limestone,  which  consists  of  an  intimate  and 
irregular  mixture  of  white  calcite  and  green  serpen- 
tine, gives  a  handsome  effect  when  polished.  It  is 
found  in  the  Laurentian  rocks  in  Grenville  and 
Templeton,  Que,  and  is  supposed  by  some  to  be  the 
remains  of  the  earliest  known  animal.  Serpentine, 


184  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH  OF   CANADA. 

which  occurs  in  large  masses  in  the  Eastern  Town- 
ships, is  used  for  interior  decoration  under  the  name 
of  verde  antique  marble.  At  Texada  Island,  B.C.,  a 
grey,  white  and  mottled  stone  is  quarried  and  used 
for  monumental  and  decorative  work. 

With  such  large  and  varied  deposits  of  marble  it  is 
strange  that  we  depend  so  much  on  other  countries 
for  our  supplies.  For  the  past  ten  years  our  produc- 
tion has  averaged  only  300  tons,  valued  at  less  than 
$5,000,  while  the  imports  amount  to  over  $100,000  a 
year. 

Lithographic  Stone. — Limestones  of  fine  even 
grain,  entirely  free  from  crystals  of  calcite,  are 
extensively  used  in  the  duplication  of  maps  and 
drawings.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  define  the 
characteristics  of  a  good  lithographic  stone,  for  in 
both  chemical  composition  and  physical  structure 
the  few  suitable  limestones  are  exactly  imitated  by 
hundreds  of  useless  ones.  The  stone  of  Solenhofen, 
Bavaria,  which  is  used  the  world  over,  is  an  even- 
grained,  compact  limestone,  with  less  than  6  per  cent, 
of  clay  and  other  silicates.  It  is  buff  or  drab  in  color 
by  reason  of  a  small  amount  of  organic  matter,  which 
is,  perhaps,  the  most  valuable  constituent.  Suitable 
material  has  only  been  found  in  Bavaria,  Silesia, 
England,  France  and  Canada.  In  the  last-named 
it  occurs  as  a  number  of  beds  six  to  twelve  inches 
thick  in  the  Trenton  limestone  in  the  township  of 
Marmora,  Ontario.  In  composition  and  physical 
characters  it  closely  resembles  the  Bavarian  stone, 
which  is  of  Jurassic  age.  Several  quarries  have 


UNIVERSITY 
THE    MINERAL   WEALTH 


been  opened,  and  trial  shipments  have  shown  some 
of  the  stone  to  be  of  excellent  quality. 

Mortar  and  Cement  —  Among  the  mineral  cements 
there  are  none  which  approach  in  importance  those 
which  consist  of  lime  or  some  of  its  compounds. 
Ordinary  mortar  is  made  from  quick-lime  and  sharp 
clean  sand,  its  cementing  qualities  depending  chiefly 
on  the  formation  of  calcium  carbonate  by  the  absorp- 
tion of  carbonic  acid  from  the  atmosphere.  At  the 
same  time  calcium  silicate,  which  forms  very  slowly, 
considerably  strengthens  the  cement  after  a  number 
of  years.  Both  ordinary  limestone  and  dolomite  are 
converted  into  lime  by  heating  in  kilns  until  the 
carbonic  acid  has  been  expelled.  The  first  yields 
"  hot  "  limes,  the  latter  "  cool  "  limes,  so  called  from 
the  relative  amounts  of  heat  developed  in  slacking. 
Both  form  good  mortars,  although  the  magnesium 
limes  slack  less  rapidly  and  set  more  slowly.  Both 
varieties  are  extensively  made  in  Canada,  particu- 
larly where  other  limestone  industries  are  established. 
Every  province  except  Prince  Edward  Island  has  its 
own  supplies,  the  total  product  being  valued  at 
$700,000  in  1895. 

Ordinary  lime  like  that  just  described,  which  is 
made  from  nearly  pure  material,  will  not  harden  if 
immersed  in  water,  but  if  made  from  a  rock  con- 
taining considerable  clay  it  has  this  valuable  pro- 
perty. Such  a  lime  is  properly  called  a  cement,  and 
it  may  be  a  natural  or  a  Portland  one,  according  as  it 
is  made  from  natural  rock  or  an  artificial  mixture. 
A  hydraulic  limestone  consists,  then,  of  calcium  or 


186  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

magnesium  carbonate  mixed  with  fifteen  to  thirty- 
five  per  cent,  of  clay  and  a  little  alkali.  Such  a 
rock  on  being  strongly  heated  forms  a  double  sili- 
cate of  calcium  and  aluminum,  a  compound  capable 
of  uniting  with  water  to  form  a  hard,  crystalline 
compound,  even  when  immersed. 

Hydraulic  limestones  are  widely  distributed,  and 
are  converted  into  natural  cement  at  a  number  of 
places.  The  rock  is  burned  in  kilns  like  ordinary 
lime,  and  then,  since  it  does  not  slack  at  all  with 
water,  or  very  slowly,  it  is  ground  to  a  fine  powder. 
The  product  often  lacks  uniformity,  for  the  chemical 
composition  of  the  beds  of  a  quarry  vary  greatly. 
For  this  reason  artificial  cements  are  often  preferred. 
The  original  Portland  cement  was  made  by  grinding 
together  a  mixture  of  clay  and  chalk  of  definite  com- 
position and  then  calcining  and  regrinding.  Artificial 
cements  are  now  made  at  a  number  of  points  in 
Canada,  as  at  Napanee  and  near  Owen  Sound,  Ont. 
The  production  of  cement  in  1895  was  128,000  barrels, 
most  of  it  coming  from  Ontario,  and  nearly  half  of 
it  being  classed  as  Portland.  The  total  value  was 
$174,000.  In  the  same  year  the  imports  of  all  kinds 
of  cement  amounted  to  $252,000. 

LITERATURE. — Marble:  Min.  Resources  of  Ont.,  1890;  Rep. 
Geol.  Sur.,  IV.  1888  K.  Lithographic  stone:  Rep.  Bur.  of 
Mines,  Ont.,  1892,  1893.  Cement:  Bur.  of  Mines,  Out.,  1891; 
Gillmore,  "Limes,  Hydraulic  Cements  and  Mortars." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

SOILS  AND  MINERAL  FERTILIZERS. 

AMONG  the  varied  resources  of  Canada  none  is  of 
greater  importance  than  her  fertile  soil,  the  direct 
support  of  more  than  half  of  the  population.  Nor  is 
there  need  of  any  excuse  for  introducing  here  a  short 
chapter  on  soils,  for  the  connection  between  geology 
and  agriculture  is  of  the  closest  character,  though  it 
is  unfortunately  too  seldom  recognized.  The  origin 
and  distribution  of  soils  ;  the  cause  of  their  fertility  ; 
the  source  and  proper  use  of  minerals  to  restore  the 
necessary  losses  incurred  in  cropping,  are  questions  of 
a  geological  character  of  the  first  importance  to  the 
progressive  farmer.  To  the  student,  also,  the  transfor- 
mation from  the  hard  and  barren  rock  to  the  loose  and 
fertile  soil  is  of  exceeding  interest.  The  uses  of  rocks 
in  their  original,  living  state  are  not  to  be  compared 
with  their  value  to  man  after  old  age  has  overtaken 
them  and  death  and  decay  have  reduced  them  to  dust. 
This  finely  divided  rock  material,  constituting  the 
superficial  portion  of  the  earth's  crust,  is  known  as 
soil.  It  is  composed  chiefly  of  very  variable  mixtures 
of  clay  and  sand,  with  considerable  proportions  of 
vegetable  matter  and  iron  oxid. 


188  THE    MINERAL   WEALTH    OF    CANADA. 

Origin  of  Soil. — As  soon  as  a  sedimentary  rock 
appears  above  the  water,  or  an  igneous  rock  is 
extruded  from  the  crust,  meteoric  forces  begin  to 
transform  it.  Wind  and  water,  heat  and  cold,  plants 
and  animals,  oxygen  and  carbonic  acid,  all  unite  to 
disintegrate  and  dissolve  the  solid  rock,  and  even  to 
transport  much  of  it  to  other  localities.  Water, 
oxygen  and  carbonic  acid  are  the  chief  agents 
involved  in  producing  chemical  change.  The  ferrous 
and  the  manganous  compounds,  so  frequently  con- 
stituents of  igneous  rocks,  easily  take  up  oxygen  to 
form  the  more  stable  peroxids.  Sulfids  of  the  metals 
become  soluble  sulfates,  and  these  may  even  lose  their 
sulfuric  acid  and  be  precipitated  as  hydrates,  as  in 
the  transformation  of  iron  pyrite  into  limonite.  Rain 
water  always  contains  some  carbonic  acid,  and  as  it 
percolates  through  decaying  vegetable  matter  it  soon 
becomes  charged  with  this  powerful  solvent.  The 
silicates  of  lime,  soda,  potash  and  iron,  so  abundant 
in  the  crystalline  rocks,  are  easily  attacked  by  this 
water,  carbonates  of  the  bases  being  formed  and  silica 
set  free.  The  crystals  of  felspar  lose  their  lustre 
and  color,  first  becoming  dull  and  earthy  on  the 
outside,  and  finally  being  converted  into  a  soft,  pul- 
verulent clay.  The  rapidity  and  completeness  of  the 
process  vary  greatly,  but  usually  all  of  the  alkalies 
and  much  of  the  silica  are  removed.  Water  charged 
with  carbonic  acid  is  also  a  good  solvent  of  ordinary 
limestone,  calcium  carbonate  being  carried  off  and  the 
impurities  left  behind. 

Solution  is  greatly  aided  by  physical  disintegration. 


THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  189 

Mosses  insert  their  tiny  rootlets  and  open  the  way 
for  other  agents.  Larger  plants,  by  the  power  of 
their  growing  roots,  wedge  off  pieces  of  rock,  and  so 
promote  chemical  solution.  The  unequal  expansion 
of  different  minerals  when  subjected  to  the  heat  of 
the  sun  has  a  disintegrating  effect.  Most  powerful 
of  all  these  influences  is  that  exerted  by  freezing 
water.  All  rocks  absorb  a  little  moisture,  and  those 
that  are  porous  or  fissured  are  particularly  susceptible 
to  the  destructive  effects  of  frost.  The  angular  blocks 
on  every  mountain  slope  attest  the  power  of  this 
agent. 

Abrasion  also  promotes  disintegration  and  conse- 
quently decay.  Running  water  rolls  the  broken 
rocks  over  and  over,  wearing  off  the  angles  and 
gradually  reducing  them  to  sand  and  gravel.  The 
shore  ice  of  rivers,  lakes  and  seas  often  surrounds 
large  stones,  and  driven  by  the  wind  or  current, 
abrades  both  them  and  the  shore.  Still  more  potent 
was  the  ice-sheet  which  at  one  time  covered  Canada, 
as  it  does  Greenland  to-day.  This  mantle  of  ice 
moved  slowly  downward  from  the  Laurentian  heights, 
carrying  in  it  and  under  it  great  blocks  of  granite 
and  other  igneous  rocks  which,  pressed  against  the 
underlying  ones,  were  slowly  ground  to  pieces. 
Abrasion,  disintegration  and  chemical  change  have 
thus  transformed  the  barren  rocks  into  fertile  soil. 

Classification. — In  accordance  with  their  origin 
two  classes  of  soils  are  recognized,  sedentary  soils 
and  transported  soils.  The  first  class  are  com- 
paratively rare  in  North  America  north  of  the 
13 


190  THE   MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

thirty-ninth  parallel  of  latitude,  the  point  to  which 
the  ice-sheet  extended.  South  of  this  line  they 
are  the  prevailing  class,  except  in  the  river  valleys. 
Soils  derived  from  the  disintegration  of  sandstone 
are  of  course  very  sandy,  containing  only  the  small 
amount  of  clay  present  in  the  original  rock.  •  Shales 
and  soft  slates  weather  to  clay  soils  undesirably 
heavy  and  compact,  except  where  the  shale  con- 
tained considerable  sand.  The  disintegration  of  a 
limestone  is  usually  accompanied  by  solution,  so 
that  the  resulting  soil  is  largely  composed  of  the 
original  impurities,  chiefly  clay  and  iron.  Indeed, 
a  calcareous  shale  will,  on  weathering  to  a  clay, 
retain  much  of  the  lime,  while  a  soil  resulting  from 
the  disintegration  of  a  limestone  may  be  nearly 
devoid  of  calcareous  material.  Sedentary  soils  formed 
from  granitic  rocks  are  usually  thin  and  poor.  When 
decomposition  is  very  rapid,  the  felspars  and  micas 
yield  a  clay  retaining  some  of  the  alkaline  and  calcar- 
eous ingredients  of  the  original  rock,  and  this  mixed 
with  the  abundant  silica  furnishes  a  fair  soil.  All  of 
these  sedentary  soils  gradually  merge  by  coarser 
materials  into  the  rocks  on  which  they  rest. 

Transported  soils  embrace  those  which  have  been 
formed  through  the  agency  of  water  or  glacial  ice, 
and  which  bear  no  relationship  to  the  rocks  beneath 
them.  In  Canada,  those  due  to  glacial  action  are  by 
far  the  most  extensive  and  among  the  most  fertile. 
These  soils  have  been  spread  over  the  country  often 
to  a  depth  of  several  hundred  feet,  obliterating  fre- 
quently the  old  drainage  systems  and  giving  a  new 


THE    MINERAL   WEALTH   OF   CANADA.  191 

contour  to  the  surface.  They  consist  of  clay  and  sand 
and  gravel,  derived  often  from  very  different  sources 
and  intimately  mixed.  The  product  of  abrasion  and 
not  of  decay,  they  contain  all  the  elements  of  fertility 
found  in  the  original  rocks.  Since  their  deposition 
the  surface  has  of  course  been  subject  to  the  ordinary 
meteoric  influences,  and  some  of  the  soluble  salts  have 
been  carried  away.  The  subsoils,  which  have  been 
subjected  in  a  less  degree  to  atmospheric  agencies,  are 
naturally  richer  in  a  number  of  ingredients  necessary 
for  plant  growth.  Proper  tillage  tends  to  restore  to 
the  surface  what  is  being  continually  lost  through  the 
growth  of  crops  and  the  solvent  action  of  rain.  Man 
accomplishes  this  by  deep  ploughing,  and  he  is  helped 
not  a  little  by  the  action  of  worms  and  other  burrow- 
ing animals. 

Besides  the  "  drift,"  there  is  another  division  of 
transported  soils  known  as  alluvium.  This  is  water- 
carried  material  which  may  have  been  deposited  in 
the  flood  plain  of  a  river,  in  the  basin  of  a  lake  since 
drained,  or  in  the  marshy  inlet  of  a  sea  at  high  tide. 
These  alluvial  soils  are  frequently  very  fertile,  con- 
taining as  they  do  much  of  the  best  material  borne 
from  the  higher  lands.  The  fine  silt  brought  down  by 
the  Nile  has  transformed  its  desert  flood  plain  into 
rich  agricultural  land.  The  marsh  lands  of  Nova 
Scotia  and  New  Brunswick,  among  the  most  fertile 
soils  of  the  Dominion,  are  due  to  deposits  of  silt  made 
at  high  tide.  Fifty  thousand  acres  have  been  reclaimed 
by  dikes  around  Chignecto  Bay  alone. 

Soils  are  also  classified  according  to  composition. 


192  THE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

They  may  be  clayey,  sandy,  peaty  or  calcareous  as 
one  or  other  of  these  constituents  predominates. 

Fertility. — The  fertility  of  a  soil  depends  on  its 
chemical  composition  and  on  its  physical  texture.  The 
useful  physical  characters  are  (1)  sufficient  looseness 
to  afford  easy  penetrability  to  roots,  to  moisture,  to 
air  and  to  fertilizers ;  (2)  sufficient  retentiveness 
to  prevent  a  rapid  loss  of  water  and  fertilizing 
material.  These  properties  depend  on  the  relative 
proportions  of  sand,  clay  and  humus  which  constitute 
the  soil.  Too  much  sand  makes  a  light  soil  easy  of 
cultivation  and  readily  dried,  _  but  not  retentive  of 
moisture  and  fertilizers.  An  excess  of  clay  makes  a 
heavy  soil  retentive  of  moisture  and  fertilizers,  capable 
of  giving  a  firm  foothold  to  plants,  but  cold,  imper- 
meable and  difficult  to  till.  Where  humus  predomin- 
ates the  soil  is  often  sour  from  carbonic  and  other 
acids,  and  is  usually  deficient  in  some  of  the  elements 
of  plant  food.  From  the  physical  standpoint  a  good 
soil  contains  from  sixty  to  eighty-five  per  cent,  of 
sand,  from  ten  to  thirty  of  clay  and  iron  oxid,  and 
from  five  to  ten  of  humus.  As,  however,  the  physical 
condition  of  a  soil  depends  partly  on  rainfall  and 
temperature,  these  must  be  considered  along  with  com- 
position. 

From  the  chemical  standpoint  a  soil  should  contain 
all  the  elements  which  are  necessary  for  plant  growth 
in  a  condition  in  which  they  are  assimilable.  What 
these  elements  are  is  best  learned  from  analyses  of 
the  ashes  of  different  plants,  a  short  table  of  which  is 
here  given  : 


fHE  MINERAL  WEAI/TH  OF  CANADA. 


193 


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Wheat,  straw    .... 

.053 

18.0 

.6 

4.5 

.3 

4.1 

72.4 

Wheat   grain 

013 

98  5 

1  5 

19,  9 

2 

f>7  3 

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Barley,      "        .... 

.018 

13.7 

6.8 

2.2 

8.6 

1.1 

39.8 

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27.7 

Peas, 

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35.5 

2.5 

10.1 

11.9 

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30.1 

4.7 

1.5 

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1  .3 

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.062 

39.0 

6.0 

7.0 

4.4 

.5 

6.0 

1.6 

8.0 

16.1 

5.1 

Potatoes,  tubers  .  . 

.040 

50.0 

1.5 

1.8 

5.4 

.5 

11.3 

7.1 

5.6 

13.4 

2.9 

The  constituents  of  soils  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes — inorganic  and  organic.  The  mineral  matter 
due  to  the  disintegration  of  rocks  is  composed  princi- 
pally of  lime,  magnesia,  oxid  of  iron,  alumina,  potash 
and  soda  combined  with  silica,  phosphoric,  carbonic 
and  sulfuric  acids.  Of  these  the  majority  are  usually 
found  in  sufficient  abundance,  the  ones  which  are 
sometimes  lacking  being  lime,  potash  and  phosphoric 
acid.  The  organic  portion  of  soil  is  known  as  humus, 
which  consists  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  oxygen  and  nitro- 
gen, only  the  last  being  of  value  to  plant  life. 

Potash,  which  is  derived  mainly  from  the  decom- 
position of  felspathic  rocks  like  granite,  exists  in  the 
soil  chiefly  as  the  soluble  potassium  silicate.  It  may 
constitute  as  much  as  2  per  cent.,  though  good 
agricultural  soils  contain  as  little  as  .25  per  cent. 
Clay  soils  are  usually  richest  in  potash — a  fact  due  to 
the  retentiveness  of  clay  and  to  the  common  origin  of 
clay  and  potash. 


THE  MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

Phosphoric  acid  is  found  in  all  fertile  soils,  usually 
combined  with  lime.  It  seldom  exceeds  1  per  cent, 
even  in  the  richest  soils,  and  the  average  in  good  soils 
is  probably  about  .2  per  cent. 

Lime  not  only  affords  direct  food  for  plant  life,  but 
it  also  liberates  potash  and  nitrogen  held  in  the  soil 
in  insoluble  forms.  A  soil  containing  less  than  1  per 
cent,  of  lime  is  considered  to  be  deficient  in  that 
particular. 

Nitrogen  is  supplied  by  the  decaying  vegetable 
matter  of  the  soil.  Only  as  fermentation  takes  place 
is  it  rendered  assimilable.  Nitrification  is  brought 
about  by  a  microscopic  ferment,  which  is  assisted  by 
moisture,  warmth  and  carbonate  of  lime.  Very  rich 
soils  may  contain  as  much  as  1  per  cent,  of  nitrogen, 
though  the  average  of  good  soils  is  .1  or  .2  per  cent. 

In  a  table  on  the  next  page  the  composition  of  a 
number  of  virgin  soils  is  given.  Soil  No.  1,  from  the 
Red  River  valley,  is  particularly  rich  in  organic 
matter,  and  consequently  in  nitrogen.  In  potash  also 
it  is  much  above  the  average,  and  in  lime  and  phos- 
phoric acid  it  is  of  fair  value.  Calculating  for  the 
first  foot  only,  it  contains  33,000  pounds  of  available 
nitrogen,  34,000  pounds  of  potash,  and  9,500  pounds 
of  phosphoric  acid  to  the  acre.  An  average  crop  of 
wheat  is  said  to  remove  15  pounds  of  phosphoric  acid 
and  23  of  potash  to  the  acre.  No.  2  is  a  sedentary 
soil  derived  from  felspathic  rocks,  and  consequently 
rich  in  potash,  but  it  is  poor  in  other  respects.  No.  3, 
which  is  low  in  lime  and  potash,  would  respond 
readily  to  fertilizers,  but  would  be  easily  leached. 


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196  THE  MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   CANADA. 

The  fourth  is  a  good  rich  soil,  though  a  little  low  in 
lime.  Nos.  5,  6  and  7  are  soils  of  average  fertility, 
somewhat  deficient  in  lime. 

Geological  Fertilizers.— Continual  cropping  slowly 
removes  from  the  soil  the  mineral  ingredients  on 
which  its  fertility  depends.  True,  in  good  farming,  a 
portion  of  these  are  returned  in  the  manure,  but  every 
bushel  of  grain  and  every  animal  that  leaves  the  farm 
carries  with  it  some  of  the  original  phosphoric  acid 
and  potash.  It  is  of  the  highest  importance  that 
these  be  returned  to  the  soil  in  some  cheap  and 
efficacious  way.  A  number  of  mineral  substances  are 
found,  which  either  native  or  after  chemical  treatment 
are  available  for  this  purpose. 

Apatite,  the  geological  occurrence  of  which  has  been 
described  in  an  earlier  chapter,  is  an  important  source 
of  phosphoric  acid.  Treated  with  sulfuric  acid  it  is 
partially  changed  to  a  soluble  phosphate.  Commer- 
cial superphosphates  are  a  mixture  of  calcium  sulf  ate, 
calcium  phosphate  and  calcium  acid  phosphate,  the 
last  of  which  is  the  valuable  ingredient  because  of  its 
solubility.  Phosphates  are  especially  useful  as  a  top 
dressing  for  root  crops.  In  connection  with  nitro- 
genous fertilizers  they  are  also  a  benefit  to  cereals- 
Guano  and  green-sand  marls  are  other  sources  of 
phosphoric  acid,  which,  however,  are  not  found  in 
Canada. 

Nitrogen,  the  essential  fertilizer  of  the  cereals,  may 
be  obtained  from  three  sources.  Chemical  compounds, 
such  as  nitrate  of  soda  and  sulfate  of  ammonia,  are 
very  useful  because  of  their  solubility,  but  they  are 


E   MINERAL  WEALTH  OF  CANADA. 


expensive.  The  first  occurs  as  Chili  saltpetre,  the 
second  is  a  by-product  in  the  manufacture  of  coal 
gas.  A  second  source  is  the  nitrogen  of  the  air,  which 
can  be  assimilated  only  by  leguminous  plants  like 
clover  and  pease.  If  these  are  ploughed  under  while 
green,  a  store  of  nitrogen  is  laid  up  for  future  crops. 
A  third  source  is  the  semi-decomposed  vegetable 
matter  of  muck,  leaf  -mould  and  peat.  The  nitrogen 
of  these  is  converted  into  assimilable  forms  by  fer- 
mentation, a  process  which  is  aided  by  composting  the 
material  with  barnyard  manure.  These  mucks  and 
peats  are  widely  distributed  through  the  whole 
Dominion.  Many  analyses  are  given  in  the  reports  of 
the  Experimental  Farms,  the  average  number  of 
pounds  of  nitrogen  to  the  ton  being  thirty-eight. 

There  is  unfortunately  no  mineral  source  of  potash 
in  Canada.  The  only  available  supply  is  that  stored 
in  our  forests.  Wood  ashes,  which  contain  from  seven 
to  twelve  per  cent,  of  potash,  are  the  mineral  constitu- 
ents which  the  trees  by  a  life-long  process  have  taken 
from  the  soil.  As  they  also  contain  considerable 
quantities  of  lime,  phosphoric  acid  and  other  inorganic 
plant  food,  they  are  among  the  most  valuable  of 
fertilizers.  To  continue  to  export  them,  as  in  the  past, 
is  suicidal. 

Lime  may  be  supplied  from  several  sources.  Ground 
gypsum  or  landplaster  is  valuable  not  only  as  food, 
but  for  liberating  potash  and  absorbing  ammonia. 
The  crude  gypsum  is  widely  distributed,  and  in  the 
manufacture  of  superphosphates  calcium  sulfate  is 
made  as  a  by-product.  Ordinary  quick-lime,  besides 


198  fHE   MINERAL  WEALTH   OF   d  AN  AD  A. 

affording  nourishment  makes  clay  soils  lighter  and 
sweetens  damp  and  peaty  ones.  Marl  is  another  source 
of  lime  very  widely  distributed,  acting  like  quick-lime 
but  more  slowly.  It  is  essentially  carbonate  of  calcium, 
with  more  or  less  clay.  Mussel  mud  is  much  used 
on  Prince  Edward  Island,  where  lime  is  frequently 
lacking. 

A  number  of  other  fertilizers  not  directly  of 
mineral  origin  may  be  passed  over.  Those  briefly 
enumerated  here  may,  by  judicious  use,  be  made  to 
increase  the  productive  capacity  of  the  soil.  Questions 
of  expense  compared  with  returns  received,  of  the 
mode  and  amount  of  application,  etc.,  belong  to 
agriculture  rather  than  to  economic  geology,  and 
cannot  be  discussed  here. 

LITERATURE. — Origin  of  Soils:  Geikie,  "Geology";  Shaler, 
Rep.  U.S.  Geol.  Sur.,  XII.  1892.  Analyses  of  Soils  and  Fertili- 
zers :  Shutt,  Annual  Reports  of  Experimental  Farm,  Ottawa. 


APPENDIX. 

SUMMARY  OF  THE  MINERAL  PRODUCTION  OF  CANADA  IN  1894  AND  1895. 


PRODUCT. 

CALENDAR  YEARS. 

1894. 

1895. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Metallic. 

Copper  (fine  in  ore,  etc.  ).lbs. 
Gold    ....                        oz 

7,737,016 
58,058 
109,991 
5,703,222 

$735,017 
1,042,055 
226,611 
185,355 

8,789,162 
92,448 
102,797 
23,075,892 

$949,229 
1,910,900 
238,070 
749,966 
2,343 
1,360,984 
3,800 
1,158,633 

Iron  ore  tons 

Lead  (fine  in  ore,  etc.).lbs. 
Mercury  ....                      ,, 

Nickel  (fine,  in  ore,  etc.  ).  n 
Platinum                            oz 

4,907,430 

1,870,958 
950 
534,049 

3,888,525 

Silver  (fine,  in  ore,  etc  )  n 
Total  metallic 

847,697 

1,775,683 

$4,594,995 

$6,373,925 

Non-Metallic. 
Arsenic  (white)                tons 

7,630 
1,000 
3,867,742 
58,044 
539 
3,757 
223,631 
35,101 
180 
74 

$420 
420,825 
20,000 
8,499,141 
148,551 
2,167 
32,717 
202,031 
34,347 
30,000 
4,180 
45,581 

2,830 
8,690 
100,040 
12,428 

Asbestos  . 

8,756 
3,177 
3,513,496 
53,356 
1,329 
3,475 
226,178 
34,579 

$368,175 
41,301 
7,727,446 
143,047 
3,492 
31,932 
202,608 
32,916 
2,000 
8,464 
65,000 

Chromite     

Coal  

Coke    

Fireclay 

Grindstones     .    . 

Gypsum 

Limestone    for    flux  .... 
Lithographic    stone  .... 
Manganese   ore 

125 

Mica 

Mineral  pigments  — 
Baryta                            tons 

1,081 
611 
561,460 
6,214 

Ochres     „ 

1,339 
739,382 
6,765 

14,600 
126,048 
13,530 

Mineral  water            .     galls 

Moulding  sand..          ..tons. 

260 


SUMMARY  OF  THE  MINERAL  PRODUCTION  OF  CANADA.  —  Continued. 


CALENDAR 

YEARS. 

PRODUCT. 

18< 

)4. 

189 

5. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Non-metallic. 
Natural  gas               

$313,754 

$423,032 

Petroleum       brls. 

829,104 

835,322 

728,665 

1,090,520 

Phosphate  (apatite)  tons. 
Precious  stones 

7,290 

43,740 
1,500 

1,822 

9,565 

Pyrites            .  .        tons. 

40,527 

121,581 

34,198 

102,594 

Salt  tons. 

57,199 

170,687 

52,376 

160,455 

Soapstone                   ...      » 

916 

1,640 

475 

2,138 

Whiting                             brls 

500 

750 

Structural  materials  and 
clay  products  — 
Bricks             M. 

1,800,000 

*308,836 

1,670,000 

Building    stone  
Cement,  natural  brls. 
do       Portland  ....  " 
Flagstones    sq.  ft. 

j     108,142 
152,700 

1,200,000 
144,637 

5,298 

128,294 
80,005 

*1,  095,000 
173,675 
6,687 

Granite                    .     tons. 

16,392 

109,936 

19,238 

84,838 

*900,000 

*5,225,000 

700,000 

Marble    tons. 

200 

2,000 

Pottery 

162,144 

151,588 

Roofing  cement    .  .  .  .tons. 

815 

3,978 

3,153 

Sands  and  gravels,  ex- 
ports                            ii 

324  656 

86,940 

277,162 

118,359 

Sewer  pipe             

250,325 

257,045 

Slate               tons. 

75,550 

58,900 

65,600 

195,123 

Tiles                       .  .     M. 

200,000 

*  19,200 

210,000 

Total    non-metallic 

$16,057,330 

$15,295,231 

do      metallic  

4,594,995 

6,373,925 

Estimated  value  of  min- 
eral products  not  re- 
turned            

297,675 

330,844 

Total    



$20,950,000 

$22,000,000 

'Partly  estimated. 


APPENDIX. 


201 


TOTAL  PRODUCTION. 

1887 $12,500,000 

1888 13,500,000 

1889 14,500,000 

1890 18,000,000 

1891 20,500,000 

1892 19,500,000 

1893 19,250,000 

1894 20,950,000 

1895 22,000,000 

1896 23,600,000* 


Total  for  ten  years $184,300,000 

*  Partly  estimated. 

The  following  table,  compiled  from  figures  published 
in  Rothwell's  "  Mineral  Industry,"  shows  the  relative 
standing  in  1895  of  the  countries  named  in  the  pro- 
duction of  some  of  the  important  minerals.  In  several 
cases  countries  are  surpassed  by  others  not  named  in 
the  table: 


— 

1 

«5 

| 

f 

I 

| 

1 

Nickel. 

a 
1 

i 

.£ 

S 

1 

55 

Austria 

f) 

8 

7 

7 

§ 

4 

3 

7 

7 

Australia    

8 

5 

Q 

5 

3 

Belgium  

6 

8 

7 

1 

9 

7 

6 

9 

10 

1 

4 

8 

§ 

France     

4 

8 

5 

q 

6 

5 

(\ 

Germany 

3 

3 

5 

3 

3 

3 

5 

\ 

{ 

Great  Britain 

1 

q 

0 

6 

I 

Mexico    

4 

4 

4 

1 

Russia 

7 

Q 

3 

Q 

11 

2 

3 

q 

Spain   ... 

10 

0 

4 

1 

6 

5 

United  States    

2 

2 

1 

1 

I 

2 

2 

1 

2 

2 

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